Finance
Pakistan has opened up barter commerce with Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia for certain products such as petroleum, LNG, coal, wheat, pulses, minerals, metals, and numerous food items in order to relieve pressure on diminishing foreign exchange reserves.
The government approved the import and export of commodities under B2B barter trading with the three countries, according to a statutory regulatory order (SRO) issued by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday, The News said.
At a time when the CPI (Consumer Price Index) was at 38% and the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) was at 48%, Pakistan decided to allow barter trade with neighboring nations in the wake of the IMF’s refusal to bail out the country’s ailing economy.
Fruits and nuts, vegetables and pulses, spices, minerals and metals, coal and its products, raw rubber items, raw hides and skins, cotton, and iron and steel have all been approved for import from Afghanistan.
Imports of fruits, nuts, vegetables, spices, minerals and metals, coal and related goods, petroleum crude oil, LNG and LPG, chemical products, fertilisers, articles of plastics and rubber, raw hides and skins, raw wool, and articles of iron and steel are permitted from Iran.
Pakistani traders would be able to import pulses, wheat, coal and related goods, petroleum oils including crude, LNG, and LPG, fertilisers, tanning and dying extracts, plastic and rubber articles, minerals and metals, chemicals products, iron and steel articles, and items of textile industrial machinery, The News reported.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, they arranged multiple meetings with high-level delegations from several countries to make the barter trade system conceivable.
The current administration took an excellent move to stabilize the country’s economy.It will not only improve the country’s foreign reserves, but also the volume of trade, according to The News.
According to sources, the barter trade would help overcome financial transactions because, in the case of Iran, transactions through official channels were not possible due to the US economic sanctions.
According to Khaqan Najeeb, a former Ministry of Finance advisor, it is hoped that the barter trading mechanism will enhance the economy in the middle of prevailing gaps in Pakistan’s import and export potential.
He believes that regional trade is critical to reaching a large number of people, and that facilitating barter trading with the three countries is a good concept.
According to The News, barter can assist individuals near border areas make a better life by allowing them to find innovative products and trading opportunities.
The business community has been pressing for suggestions to move forward with the barter trade agreement with the three critical countries.
He concluded that the government had consented to the business community’s suggestions at a time when the country was facing a serious dollar liquidity shortage in order to pay for critical goods.
Source:OCN
