Pakistan imports mobile phones worth Rs93 billion during first seven months (July – January) 2022-2023 amid challenging economic conditions.
However, the import in the first seven months of the current fiscal year fell by 57 per cent when compared with Rs217 billion during the same months of the last fiscal year, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
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The import payment in dollar term recorded a decline of 67 per cent to $414.80 million during first seven months of the current fiscal year when compared with $1.27 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The fall in import of mobile phones may be attributed to a ban imposed by the government in the last year. The present government in May 2022 imposed a complete ban on import of luxury and non-essential items in order to support balance of payment.
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However, despite the dollar crisis the government lifted the import ban in August 2022. But on the other hand, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept checking on imports by restricting the opening of Letter of Credit (LC).
The central bank early last month allowed commercial banks to open LCs without the prior approval of the SBP. However, the importers have complaints that the banks are still not opening the LCs because the priority set by the central bank.
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The import of mobile phones during January 2023 was at $ 52 million despite restrictions. The imports in January 2023 is 28 per cent lower than December 2022 and 71 per cent in January 2022.
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