Pakistan promises IMF, import barriers will start to be removed from June

Pakistan has assured the IMF that it will review more than 2,660 non-tariff barriers to imports and that many of them will be removed soon. Under the $7 billion bailout package, the government has promised that the process will begin in June.

In the first phase, restrictions on the import of mobile phones and vehicles will be eased. The government will remove restrictions on 76 customs codes related to vehicles, medicines, steel, food, agricultural commodities, cosmetics and mobile phones. In the automotive sector, restrictions on the import of complete and semi-finished vehicles will be eased, while the condition of subjecting the import of mobile phones to PTA approval may also be removed.

In the agricultural sector, there has been an indication of facilitating the import of meat, milk, packaged food and edible oil, while barriers will also be reduced in the import of raw materials for the textile industry. The remaining barriers will be removed in phases and the entire process will be presented to the Cabinet Committee on Regulatory Reforms by the end of 2026.

The government has also indicated further reduction in customs duties in the upcoming budget to bring the average tariff below 6 percent by 2030. However, industry circles have warned that such reforms without taking the local industry into confidence could prove detrimental.