ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Thursday was briefed that there will be less import of food items, furnace oil and vaccines in the coming months, a move that will significantly reduce the pressure on trade bills in the second half of the current fiscal year (H2FY22).
The PM’s advisor was chairing a meeting to review the balance of trade at the Finance Division wherein he had directed the concerned authorities to take effective policy measures to reduce unnecessary imports of luxury items.
The meeting was held to review and discuss the import bill of the last five months – July to November – of the current fiscal year.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce & Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, federal secretaries, SBP governor, FBR chairman and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
The meeting was informed that the pressure on the country’s import bill was mainly due to global high commodity prices, especially energy, steel, and industrial raw materials.
The forum also noted that the high import of vaccines contributed significantly to the rise in import bills.
With low gas pressure, companies are relying on furnace oil to produce the power they need to run their industries which produces export products. How are they going to operate in this condition???