The federal government has decided to lift the condition of payment in foreign exchange (US dollars) for export of perishable goods from Pakistan to neighbouring Afghanistan.
According to a SRO issued on August 17 by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the condition of Form (E), making payment in dollars compulsory for export of perishable goods to Afghanistan, has been lifted, revoking the earlier order.
“The decision has been taken for the convenience of exporters and with the objective of improving bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” said Qurban Ali, Collector Customs Peshawar.
Qurban Ali said this was a long lasting demand of the business community who were facing problem in conversion of local currency in dollars especially at border check posts in Torkham, Chaman and others. The perishable goods include fruit, vegetable, dairy products (milk, cream, butter), meat, poultry etc, he added.
The decision of allowing exporters to make payment in local currency will have positive impact on commerce and trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The volume of bilateral trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan is around 2.5 billion dollars and governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan wants to raise it to dollar five billion till 2016.
