KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday amended regulations to prohibit financing for imported vehicles.

 “The changes in the PRs effectively prohibit financing for imported vehicles,” the SBP said in a statement.

According to the statement, the SBP had revised Prudential Regulations (PRS) for Consumer Financing.

This targeted step will help to moderate demand growth in the economy, leading to slower import growth and thus supporting the balance of payments.

The changes in the regulations effectively prohibit financing for imported vehicles and tighten regulatory requirements for financing of domestically manufactured/ assembled vehicles of more than 1000 cc engine capacity and other Consumer Finance facilities like personal loans and credit cards. Following changes have been made in this regard:

— Maximum tenure of auto finance has been reduced from seven (7) to five (5) years;

— Maximum tenure of personal loan has been reduced from five (5) to four (4) years

— Maximum debt-burden ratio, allowed to a borrower, has been decreased from 50 to 40 percent;

— Overall auto financing limits availed by one person from all banks/DFIs, in aggregate, will not exceed Rs3,000,000, at any point in time; and

— Minimum down payment for auto financing has been increased from 15 percent to 30 percent.

With the objective to protect lower to middle-income category purchases, these new regulations are not applicable to locally manufactured or assembled vehicles of up to 1,000 cc engine capacity, the SBP said.

They are also not applicable to locally manufactured electric vehicles to promote the use of clean energy.

The financing of these two categories of vehicles will continue to be governed by the previous set of regulations.

Further, in order to encourage Roshan Digital Accounts and facilitate overseas Pakistan who have opened these accounts, regulatory instructions for Roshan Apni Car products of the banks or DFIs have also not been changed.

Current account deficit widens to $2.29bn in July-August