Islamabad: The government will no longer prohibit the import of luxury and non-essential goods, according to an announcement made on Thursday by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, he asserted that the government’s decision would be straightforward if it had a finite amount of money and its top priority was to provide the people of the nation with the basics of life.
“Do we spend those cash on cars or grain? Do we purchase pulses or cell phones? Do we purchase household appliances or oil and ghee? Our decision becomes quite easy.
The minister explained that as a result, the government has banned the import of anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. But we are lifting the ban on all items because it is a condition of the international community that one not be put in place.
He added that these products would not be imported as “finished goods” because of the government’s simultaneous imposition of high regulatory charges (RDs) on them.
Ismail declared, “We will attempt to impose three times the current RDs, the highest number of RDs allowed.” He claimed that because the nation lacked foreign cash to buy things like Mercedes vehicles, the government’s RDs in some areas would range from 400 to 600 percent.
