A proposal to increase duty on certain items has also been submitted
The Pakistan government on Wednesday imposed a temporary ban on the imports of nearly three-dozen non-essential luxury items while rejecting the proposals to increase regulatory duties on imported goods.
The government has imposed a ban on the import of 38 luxury items under an “emergency economic plan”, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced while addressing a press conference on Thursday.
The decision comes amid the continuous depreciation of the rupee and an unsettling economic crisis. According to sources, the prime minister has imposed a temporary ban on the import of non-essential items only, not used by the common man.
Expected impact of the ban
After imposing an import ban, the Shehbaz government is likely to face a challenge in securing the IMF’s nod. The government will also have to notify the World Trade Organization about the measures. The WTO will then seek the IMF’s input on whether Pakistan’s economic conditions warrant such drastic measures.
Regulatory duty on certain items
Meanwhile, a proposal to increase duty on certain items has also been submitted, according to sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Details are as below:
- Regulatory duty on machinery will be up by 10% and home appliances by 50%
- Power generation machinery regulations to go up by 30%
- Steel products regulatory duty to go up by 10%
- Duty on cars above 1,000cc to be up by 100% and 30% ACD
- Regulatory duty on ceramics to be up by 40%
- Duty on mobile phones to rise withing a range of Rs6,000 to Rs44,000 per unit
List of banned items
The government has banned the import of luxury vehicles and other non-essential items, such as cosmetics, mobile phones and home décor items. Imported food items have also been banned by the government. A complete list of the banned items, as shared by the information minister is mentioned below:
- Automobiles
- Mobile phones
- Home appliances
- Fruits and dry fruits (except from Afghanistan)
- Crockery
- Private weapons and ammunition
- Shoes
- Chandeliers and lighting (except energy savers)
- Headphones and loudspeakers
- Sauces
- Doors and window frames
- Travelling bags and suitcases
- Sanitary ware
- Fish and frozen fish
- Carpets (except from Afghanistan)
- Preserved fruits
- Tissue paper
- Furniture
- Shampoos
- Confectionary
- Luxury mattresses and sleeping bags
- Jams and jelly
- Cornflakes
- Toiletries
- Heaters, blowers
- Sunglasses
- Kitchen ware
- Aerated water
- Frozen meat
- Juices
- Pasta
- Ice cream
- Cigarettes
- Shaving goods
- Luxury leather apparel
- Musical instruments
- Salon items like hair dryers etc
- Chocolates