Govt allows shipments of all imported items despite ban

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has announced that the government was allowing the imports of all items that have reached the ports by June 1 despite a ban on import of luxury items, ARY News reported.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the finance minister said that even after the government banned certain luxury goods temporarily, many shipments of these items reached the ports.

“To avoid losses to importers, the government is allowing the imports of all items that have reached our ports by June 1 with a small surcharge,” Miftah Ismail wrote.

Moreover my colleague @faisalsubzwari the Maritime minister and I are trying that these importers have to pay little or preferably no demurrage or container detention charges. For this of course we need cooperation of container terminal operators and container owners.

— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) July 23, 2022

In another tweet, Miftah said he, along with MQM-P senior leader and Maritime Minister Faisal Subzwari were trying that the importers only have to pay “little or preferably no demurrage pr container detention charges.”

In May, the government unveiled an emergency economic plan and banned the imports of dozens of non-essential luxury items.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb conducted a press conference in Islamabad today to announce the economic plan of the PML-N government to cope with the financial challenges.