ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar has said that ban on imports was a wrong policy decision.
Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar made the recognition while addressing a trade seminar organized by the Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PME) in association with Friedrich Nomen Foundation (FNF) Pakistan.
“Recently, we went in the wrong direction and banned imports, but this step was taken in an extreme situation,” he said. The commerce minister said the ban was due to expire on July 18 and he would oppose extending it, but said not everything was in the hands of the commerce ministry.
Syed Naveed Qamar said that the ban on imports has caused loss and sooner or later we will have to lift the ban. On May 19, the federal cabinet banned the import of 41 items for two months.
At the time, the Express Tribune reported that the ban would now have an impact equivalent to barely ڈالر 600 million on the import bill. The Federal Minister for Commerce said that the ban on imports was not a wise decision but was aimed at temporarily reducing imports.
Federal Finance Minister Muftah Ismail was against the ban on imports and wanted a significant increase in regulatory duties. The Cabinet’s Economic Co-ordination Committee on Tuesday approved the clearance of imported goods that have been imported till June 30.
