Pak lifts ban on import of non-essential, luxury products

Islamabad, July 29 The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Pakistan government has lifted a ban on the import of non-essential and luxury products imposed earlier in May, the Ministry of Finance announced in a statement.

The decision was taken in the wake of imports substantially reduced due to the government's efforts at a former meeting of the ECC, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

However, the restrictions on the import of completely built-up automobiles, mobile phones, and home appliances will remain in place, it said.

On May 19, the government imposed a ban on the imports of more than three dozen non-essential and luxury items as part of an emergency economic plan to stabilise the depleting foreign exchange reserves and rising import bill.

Due to the decision, the overall imports of the banned items have shrunk by over 69 per cent from $399.4 million to $123.9 million, according to the Ministry.

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