Pakistan has banned the import of luxury goods to help the nation out of its economic crisis, but the country’s finance minister has since stated that Islamabad still permits these imports.
According to ARY News, the Pakistani government presented an emergency economic plan in May and prohibited the importation of a number of luxury goods. Ismail claimed in a tweet that the government was permitting imports of all goods that had arrived at ports by June 1 with a small cost in order to protect importers from financial damage.
Taking to Twitter, he said, ” Even after the government banned certain luxury goods temporarily, many shipments of these items inadvertently came to our ports. To avoid losses to importers, the government is allowing the imports of all items that have reached our ports by June 1 with a small surcharge. “
Muftah tweeted, “Moreover, Faisal Subzwari, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs the Maritime Minister and I are trying that these importers have to pay little or preferably no demurrage or container detention charges. For this of course we need cooperation of container terminal operators and container owners. “
As part of an “emergency economic strategy,” Pakistan had issued a ban on the import of 38 luxury goods that were not necessary in response to the record devaluation of its currency against the US dollar, growing import costs, and shrinking foreign exchange reserves.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the decision would “save the country’s precious foreign exchange.”
Mr. Sharif tweeted, “My decision to ban the import of luxury items will save the country precious foreign exchange. We will practise austerity and financially stronger people must lead in this effort so that the less privileged among us do not have to bear this burden inflicted on them by the PTI government. “
Despite having nuclear weapons, Pakistan is currently struggling with its rapidly depleting foreign currency reserves, growing fiscal and current account deficits, and a rupee that has lost about 20% of its value in just 7 months since January 2022.