KARACHI: President of SITE Association of Industry (SAI) Riaz Uddin in a press statement expressed grave concern over unannounced ban imposed by government on import of goods, non-clearance of consignments and unavailability of dollars with banks and has appealed PM Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to allow unrestricted import of industrial raw material, machinery/spare parts.  He urged government to take immediate steps to ensure availability of forex otherwise industries may close down, which will have adverse impact on overall economy of country.

He said that industries in Karachi are already suffering due to prevailing gas crisis whereas in wake of non-clearance of consignments of industrial raw material and machinery/parts on time, industries are closing down.

Riaz Uddin expressed apprehension that in case industrial raw material, machinery and parts and other necessary imported items are not cleared by government ‘on time’ together with timely payment of imported goods, there will be severe shortage of basic goods and critical items in days to come.

“Unannounced and improper policy of government aimed at containing imports is beyond comprehension. Former Finance Minister imposed ban on luxury items which was removed on foreign pressure,” he said.

“There are thousands of containers on port awaiting clearance, pending due to Forex crisis. SBP first put ban on payments of 100,000 dollars and then on 50,000 dollars. SBP and commercial banks are now unable to clear even documents on their maturity at 30, 60 or 90 days, leaving bad reputation of local importing industries since foreign sellers are not trusting local manufacturers and exporters anymore”, Riaz Uddin added.

He demanded government to announce effective policy measures if import-compression is to be done in proper manner. Imports of non-essential and non-productive capital goods, luxury vehicles and cell phones etc., may be deferred together with ban on other unnecessary items to save foreign exchange.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 16 2022

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