ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce on Thursday amended the Import Policy 2022 to relax the restriction imposed on the import of used and unregistered cars.
According to detail, the government has allowed the import of used cars having a mileage of 2,000 kilometres against the previous policy that only allowed the import of cars having up to 500 kilometres of mileage.
According to the new and amended import policy, those cars having mileage up to 2,000 kilometres could also be considered as “new”, and could be imported.
It is pertinent to know that imports have a significant impact on the country’s economy as the payments are mostly made in dollars which in turn affects the country’s forex reserves.
Previous governments, including the caretaker setup as well as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government had, in fact, imposed severe curbs on the import of cars in their bid to preserve the depleting forex reserves.
Earlier, last month, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced relaxing the regulations for advance payments of imports allowing the authorised dealers to make full payments in advance without prior approval.
Effects of Import Policy on Cars
According to media reports car sales went down in Pakistan by about 50% in the first seven months of the fiscal year as compared to the previous year due to different reasons including the increasing rates, the monopoly of the automobile companies and the restrictions on imports.
However, the recent decision by the government is unlikely to bring in any significant changes in the local automobile industry as these local companies have almost occupied the market with their tough conditions and policies.
