To deal with the falling value of the rupee and the difficult economic situation, the federal government on Thursday decided to ban the import of all vehicles, luxury items and mobile phones to reduce the current account deficit.
According to Federal Minister for Information Maryam Aurangzeb, the decision will reduce the import bill by up to 6 billion annually.
However, with this move of the government, will the country really be able to get out of the state of economic crisis?
Speaking to Urdu News in this regard, economic experts said that this measure will not bring much benefit in the short run but it can have benefits in the long run.
PTI economic affairs spokesman Muzammil Aslam said the move would lead to a storm of inflation.
In his response on social media, he claimed that the import ban would close thousands of businesses and leave millions unemployed.
Talking to Urdu News, Khaliq Kayani, a senior journalist reporting on economic affairs, said that the ban on import of luxury goods would not make much difference till the budget presented next month. Can come
He said that this would help in reducing the trade deficit.
However he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat President Conte’s government.
It may be recalled that former Prime Minister Imran Khan had frozen the prices of petroleum products a few days before the no-confidence motion against him, due to which the trade deficit has been steadily increasing and negotiations with the IMF have stalled.
The current government in Qatar is in talks with IMF officials, which is likely to continue for the next few days.
According to economic analyst Shahbaz Rana, the ban on imports of imported goods will not make much difference as it will reduce the import bill by only 300 million per month.
To a question, he said that the IMF discourages the ban on imports, so he did not think that the move would be of any use in terms of success in reaching an agreement with the IMF.
“Success in negotiations with the IMF will require a reduction in fuel subsidies, but the IMF can be persuaded to reduce it gradually.”
On the other hand, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the decision to ban his luxury items would save the country’s precious foreign exchange.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, “We will pursue austerity and the financially strong should move forward in this effort so that the less privileged of us do not have to bear the burden that the PTI government has imposed on them.” Has been put on. ‘
The government has banned the import of luxury items, including cars and mobile phones, among other items.
These include dried fruit, household items, utensils, weapons for personal use, shoes and decorative pieces.
Import of door and window frames, sausages, frozen meat, fruits, carpets, tissue paper, furniture and make-up items has also been banned.
In addition, the banned items include shampoo, goggles, cigarettes, chocolates, bakery products and musical instruments.
Jams, jellies, shaving utensils, mattresses, sleeping bags, heaters, kitchen utensils, juices, ice cream, sanitary items, leather goods are also banned.
Federal Minister for Information Maryam Aurangzeb claimed that banning the import of these items would reduce the government’s import bill by 6 6 billion.