ISLAMABAD: A member of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) while talking about the assessment conducted by the board revealed that almost 90% of dollars are collected in Pakistan while currency smuggling is only involved. 10 percent share.
According to JEE News, FBR member Makram Jah Ansari said that the customs department has increased vigilance at the entry and exit points of the country, including airports, to prevent currency smuggling.
“It is the responsibility of other regulators and law enforcement agencies to take action against those involved in greenback speculation and hoarding. We have found that the US dollar is cheaper in the neighboring country. However, we have found terror. It has increased its vigilance in the border areas to stop the financing of terrorism.
Ansari said that the FBR seized dollars and Saudi Riyals in a few cases. However, according to the assessment, only 10 percent of the country is trafficked while 90 percent of the dollars are hoarded.
The FBR member also said that the government’s efforts to sign Electronic Data Integration (EDI) agreements with various Central Asian Republics (CARs) – Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to curb mis-invoicing and under-invoicing. is doing
He considered various issues to bring reforms in Customs to improve the overall efficiency of the tax collection agency. He said that Pakistan and China have signed the EDI Agreement and both sides are exchanging trade data electronically.
After strenuous efforts, China agreed to increase the total value of goods on a quarterly basis, he said. Now the discrepancy in bilateral trade figures has reduced significantly and is less than $3 billion, which was more than $6 billion on an annual basis a few years ago.
He said that the customs department joined hands with Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) to conduct research on wrong invoicing and smuggling to reach the correct level. He added that the results of the studies would be available by the end of the current financial year 2022-23.
He said that FBR will make an action plan to prevent wrong invoicing and smuggling. It is relevant to state that on an annual basis under-invoicing is estimated to cost billions of dollars in losses to the economy.
To another question about the EDI agreement, the FBR member said the government would go ahead to sign EDI agreements with Uzbekistan and other countries – Russia, North Africa and UAE.
He said that Pakistan and China will cooperate under the Single Window Agreement. He said that manual One Customs will be discontinued by March 2023 and replaced by WeBOC (Web-based One Customs).
Ansari said work on the PSW is in progress, as 77 agencies will be integrated for clearance of goods at entry and exit points in the country. State Bank of Pakistan and Commercial Bank will soon be merged under PSW.
The FBR member said that to control currency smuggling, they have developed an electronic application which will be launched within this month.
This application will help in declaring the currency through online application and then scanning will share the entire information with the customs departments at the airports, he said, adding that the customs have taken strict measures against counterfeiting. Action was taken and more than two dozen FIRs were registered and the involved persons were also arrested. Those involved in currency smuggling should be punished.
Ansari said that he has directed the Collectorates to select 10 cases per jurisdiction every month and offered them to settle the cases through the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (ADRC). He said that the mechanism for ensuring barter trade will be finalized which will help promote regional trade in the context of Iran and other states.
