KARACHI: Due to the non-availability of dollars, commercial importers have announced to stop importing all food items from June 25.
According to the statement issued by Farhat Siddique, Secretary of Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association, all the banks have refused to provide them dollars.
After a thorough discussion, the association decided that the importers should inform their indentors that no shipment should be sent after June 25.
Importers are only responsible for clearance of goods that have arrived at the port or are en route. Any shipment sent after June 25 will not be cleared.
The association lamented that thousands of containers are stuck at the port due to lack of foreign exchange and they are paying fines and other charges on them.
The statement said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is not providing the much-needed foreign exchange and its policies are highly detrimental to the country’s economy.
With barely enough foreign exchange reserves to cover a month’s worth of imports, the coalition government is scrambling to manage the balance of payments crisis and bring inflation under control after it hit nearly 38 percent last month.
The dollar shortage, restrictions on imports, and delays in opening credit lines have adversely affected several sectors of the country as none of them have been able to meet the growth targets set for the fiscal year 2022-23.
