The import of cars has sharply declined by 39% during the first eight months of current fiscal year due to certain government measures on preventing misuse of the allowed schemes.
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According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the import of cars (CBU) was at $202.9 million during July – February 2018/2019 as compared with $329.06 million in the same period of the last fiscal year. The figures show a sorry picture in terms of imports of just $9.47 million in February 2019, as compared with $37 million in the same month of the last year.
There are a couple of reasons attributed towards this sharp decline. First was the restriction imposed on non-filers in registering imported vehicles. Although the ban has been recently lifted, it did caused a major blow to the car imports already. Further, the condition of arranging foreign exchange for payment of customs duty had also discouraged the imports of cars.
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The import of cars had been allowed under three different schemes including gift scheme, transfer of resident and baggage scheme for overseas Pakistanis. However, these schemes were grossly misused which resulted huge loss of foreign exchange.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
