‘Currency smugglers take advantage of no counter of declaration at border’

LAHORE: Currency smugglers are taking advantage of the absence of a counter of declaration and facility of certificate of deposits (CDS) at the border coupled with the lack of foreign currency exchange facilities, leading to rampant smuggling across the Pak-Afghan border, said sources.

They said the prevailing situation has created an environment conducive to smuggling. As a result, the currency smugglers keep smuggling all sorts of currencies in Pakistan except the Indian day in and day out. As and when they are intercepted by the Customs authorities on a tip off, the smugglers deny the violation of any provision of law and come up with a plea that they have sold out an ancestral property in Afghanistan and received foreign currency as proceeds of sale.

Furthermore, they use to defeat the Customs authorities on the pretext that since there was no declaration at the Pak- Afghan check post; therefore, they were proceeding towards State Bank at Quetta to exchange the foreign currency with Pakistani currency while the Customs authorities took over.

It may be noted that the local chamber of commerce and industry has also been agitating the issue every now and then but to no avail.

According to a notification issued by the State Bank of Pakistan, any person is allowed to bring into Pakistan any amount of foreign currency, except unissued notes. However, this policy has been exploited by smugglers, who take advantage of the lack of regulatory oversight at the border.

The issue came to light when a person was forced to travel to Quetta to exchange seized foreign currency, as there were no facilities available at the border. This highlights the need for the State Bank of Pakistan to revisit its regulations and establish adequate infrastructure at the border to prevent smuggling.

Sources in the Customs department believe that the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, which governs foreign exchange transactions in Pakistan, also needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is effective in preventing smuggling and other illegal activities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024