Lahore: Financial Times has reported Prime Minister Shahid Khan Abbasi said that Pakistan intends to curb imports of luxury items in order to avoid a foreign exchange reserve crisis.
The article shared that PM Abbasi wants to avoid the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee and instead wants to regulate imports. It further added that some experts are off the view that the country will have to seek another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within a years time.
In March, the government had passed measures to reduce the imports of non-essential items like mobile phones, vehicles, cigarettes by demanding 100pc of the cash upfront from buyers.
Abbasi said to FT, that luxury finished goods could come under the scanner and more regulatory duties could be imposed on them to discourage its imports. He added that depreciation of the PKR wasn’t under consideration, as it was significant to maintain a stable currency.
Pakistan is facing a balance of payment crisis, alongside a rising current account deficit which has balooned over the course of last one year. Aside this, the forex reserves have also fallen from a high of $18.9b last October to $14.3b by September 15th this year.
The report also cited that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor had also contributed to a major rise in imports for energy and infrastructure projects, which economic experts believe could force the country to seek an IMF bailout.
