There is a decrease of around 27 percent in payment of refunds/rebates during July-December (2018-19) against the same period of 2017-18. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that there is a negative growth in payment of refunds and rebates to the exporters during the first half of 2018-19 when compared with same period of the last fiscal year.

According to sources, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is examining different proposals in consultation with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for clearance of pending refunds including issuance of bonds in phase-wise manner.

Sources said that various proposals are under considerations for clearing the refunds amounts. The consultations with the Ministry of Finance and SBP are underway to finalise the idea of launching bond for clearing this liability.

The government has yet to finalise procedural requirements and details of the procedure in this regard. Ministry of Finance and FBR are expected to hold a meeting in coming weeks for finalising modalities to launch this bond aimed at clearing major chunk of stuck-up refunds of exporters.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019