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While the country was crippled by severe foreign exchange controls even for imports of necessary consumer products and industrial commodities, the government permitted the import of 2,200 luxury vehicles in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
The country’s ports have piled up with about 8,500 containers containing various consumer and industrial products in the first half of this year as a result of the severe foreign exchange controls. The traders estimated that there were 5,500 stuck-up containers, Dawn reported on Tuesday citing official sources.
As per customs data, over 95 per cent of 8,500 containers are held up at ports due to the non-opening of letters of credit (LCs).
These containers carry consumer goods, industrial goods, pharmaceuticals and perishable products, while imports of used luxury cars are swiftly clearing at ports.
Data showed that in the first six months, the import of new cars stood at 193 vehicles. Of these only 25 vehicles fall within the category of 1,000-1,800cc while four vehicles above 1,800cc during the period under review.
Between July and December 2022, 164 luxury electric vehicles were primarily imported. The only gain from the import of these automobiles for Pakistan is in the form of duty and taxes, which came to around Rs2 billion. But the cost of importing these cars was hundreds of billions of rupees for the country.
In the first half of the current fiscal year, there was a noticeable increase in the importation of luxury automobiles older than three years. Between July and December 2022, about 1,990 automobiles were imported.
The import of these vehicles is allowed only for overseas Pakistanis, but this facility is being misused by importers who pay up to Rs10m in the case of SUVs to passport owners.
The majority of the 1,450 used vehicles in the category up to 1,000cc were imported. During the time period under consideration, 370 automobiles between 1,000 and 1,800cc were imported, while 20 premium electrified vehicles.
During the first six months of the current fiscal year, Rs 7 billion in taxes were collected on the import of secondhand cars.
