If you remember, a couple of months ago, May 19 to be precise, the federal government banned import of a number of luxury items, including Completely Built Units (CBUs) or in easy words, imported cars. The ban was imposed on nearly 800 items in 33 categories. Used and new cars were among the banned items.
However, there is an update for you because media reports are suggesting that government is all set to remove this ban. A good news, isn’t it, but not for petrol heads. The same reports added the ban on the import of automobiles and mobiles would remain in place for the time being.
And the reason behind this decision is the big foreign exchange impact of these items. “Most of the other items have lower foreign exchange costs,” the sources said.
A Partial Relief
Similar sources claimed that the expensive automobiles, already in the import process at the time of the ban, had already been given relief last week. “The government has allowed their clearance from the port at 5% surcharge after their arrival within to weeks since May 19, and 15% surcharge for the items arrived two weeks after the ban,” the sources mentioned.
Situation of Locally Assembled Cars
Meanwhile, the situation for locally assembled cars is also bleak. And the major reason is the non-issuance of Letters of Credit (LC) by the State Bank of Pakistan to the auto industry. This has led to delays in the arrival of CKD kits, meaning hurdles in production and a long wait for deliveries. So, we can say that the current situation of CBU and CKD units is not so good, and we hope the situation will get better soon.
What do you think about the ban on the import of automobiles? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
