Traders of electronics, car, paper and eatable items told this correspondent that the regulatory duties imposed on various items will have an impact with the start of new month, saying that as yet most of the imported items being sold in the markets were purchased prior to the issuance of the notification from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Imported shampoos like Dove, Nido Powdered milk, television sets, papers, generators, air conditioners and all other items are being sold at old prices, and once fresh orders started arriving in the market, new prices will take effect, said Shahzad Mughal, a trader of electrodes at Imperial Market, Rawalpindi.
The government slapped regulatory duties on more than 731 imported products mostly eatables, electronic items and imported cars aimed to curtail the whopping import bill.
While chairing the apex body meeting of Economic Coordination Committee some three weeks back, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced that the government has decided to clamp additional regulatory duties on imported products.
The products to face regulatory duties are imported fruits, vegetables, juices, shampoos, shavers, microwave oven, tea maker, food processing machine, imported new cars, sports products such as cricket and hockey balls, and some items belonging to women makeup kits etc.
The duties on imported new cars have been imposed on 660cc to 1800cc in the range from 15 to 20 percent. Following the imposition of duties, the imported cars prices tag would increase by Rs 12,500 to Rs 65,000 per unit. While the prices of deep freezers, led TV, LCD TV, microwave ovens and other products would increase from Rs 600 to Rs 12,000 per unit.
According to traders, the measure is taken to curtail imports which might reduce the bill by $600 million to $700 million. But it would increase the volume of smuggling in the country as the increase in regulatory duties will give cushion to black market in proportion to 10 to 60 percent. This would increase the Hundi and Hawala system as the smuggling of goods is financed through non-banking channels.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017