ISLAMABAD: Adviser to PM on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has said the Ministry of Commerce has allowed export settlement of 14 items in Pakistani Rupee (PKR) in order to ease exports to Afghanistan.
Dawood announced this in a tweet while sharing the notification. “Queries have been received regarding export to Afghanistan in Pakistani rupee. We would like to clarify that to ease exports to Afghanistan, the MoC has allowed export settlement of 14 items in Pak rupee,” said the advisor.
Dawood said that the items include: fish and fish products, poultry meat and products, cement, pharmaceuticals, textiles, fruits, vegetables, salt, sugar, rice, and surgical instruments.
Due to the situation in Afghanistan and the absence of any formal banking infrastructure in the country, exports from Pakistan to Afghanistan declined from $517.24 million during July-December 2020 to $328.25 million to July-December 2021.
Since the Taliban takeover on 15 August, 2021, foreign financial assistance has stopped, while international banks remain wary of testing UN and US sanctions, leaving the United Nations and aid groups struggling to obtain cash.
This has led Afghanistan’s economy to deteriorate, with inflation for basic household goods reaching nearly 42 percent in January, compared to the year-earlier period, the World Bank said. Wages and demand for labour continued to decline, as did imports, which were down 66 percent compared to a year earlier, it said.
