SBP relaxes cash margin restriction on import

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has relaxed restriction on cash margin requirement on imported items.

According to a circular issued on August 05, 2022, the SBP said that banks were required to maintain 100 percent cash margin against certain items of import (HS codes), regardless of the mode of payment.

In this regard, it has been decided to relax the 100 percent cash margin requirements where the credit terms of import are more than 90 days; accordingly, the banks shall obtain cash margins as per the revised percentages given in the below table:

Term of Payment from Import	Applicable Instructions for Cash Margin Requirement (CMR)
91 to 180 Days	25%
181 Days and above	0%

Based on the tiered-approach in Para 2 above, the cash margin requirements shall be applicable on the Rupee equivalent amount of the import transaction.

It may be noted that the above instructions shall be applicable on all new import transactions initiated by the bank after the issuance date of this circular letter. However, on already initiated import transactions, the instructions may only be applied if the amendments (in terms of payment) are made subsequent to the date of the issuance of instructions in accordance with above table.

The cash margins deposited by importers on all items subject to CMR would be non-remunerative.