Govt abolishes export development surcharge to boost exports

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Government has taken a vital decision for the promotion of exports in the country, ARY News reported.

To boost the country’s export volume, the Federal Government has abolished the Export Development Surcharge (EDS) levy on all exporting goods.

For this purpose, the government has issued a notification regarding an amendment to Section 11 of the Finance Act.

As per the notification, the government has discontinued the collection of the Export Development Surcharge through Customs Duty.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) number 2335 in this regard.

The duty, which was imposed under the Finance Act 1991, has now been abolished.

Authorities stated that exporters had recommended that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif abolish the duty.

Earlier, the exports from Pakistan increased by 4.67 percent during the fiscal year 2024-25 as compared to previous year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Wednesday.

Exports during July-June (2024-25) were recorded at $32.106 billion against $30.675 billion during July-June (2023-24), according to latest PBS data.

On the other hand, imports into the country also went up by 6.57 percent by growing from $54.779 billion last year to $58.380 billion during the fiscal year 2024-25.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $26.274 billion against the deficit of $24.104 billion last year, showing an increase of 9 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports in June 2025 decreased by 0.59 percent to $2.543 billion from $2.558 billion in June 2024.

On the other hand, the imports also declined by 1.97 percent by falling from $4.964 billion last year to $4.866 billion in FY2024-25, according to PBS data.

On a month-on-month basis, the exports from the country came down by 4.79 percent when compared to the exports of $2.671 billion during May 2025.

The imports witnessed a decrease of 7.08 percent when compared to the imports of $5.237 billion in May 2025, PBS reported.