PCA delegation visits SBP to discuss irritants in import

KARACHI - Pakistan Coating Association (PCA) delegation headed by its Chairman Mr Siraj Uddin visited the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to discuss irritants in import. The objective of PCA was to apprise SBP officials of the issues their member industries face on imports of raw materials.

 Dr Inayat Hussain, Deputy Governor SBP warmly welcomed the delegation. During the meeting, Mr Siraj Uddin, PCA Chairman, sought help from SBP to resolve impediments to importing raw materials by the PCA traders and importers.

While discussing, Mr Muhammad Yousuf, Former Senior Vice Chairman, also mentioned that containers have piled up at the Karachi Port due to the Bank’s refusal to release the shipping documents and the Bank Contracts, which also are not cleared by the Banks. This situation is putting an excessive burden of demurrage charges on importers.

Inayat Hussain, Deputy Governor, SBP well, understood the issues being faced by the importers. However, referring to earlier proposals by various trade bodies and chambers of commerce, he said importers can extend their payment terms through negotiations with their suppliers abroad or arrange funds abroad to settle their pending import payments.

Further, he stated that goods arrived at the port before January 18th 2023, as evidenced by a bill of lading/airway bill, subject to (a) In case of deferment, the importer shall ensure receipt of the swift message from the Bank abroad that imports are on a deferred payment basis for at least 180 days or; (b) In case of funding arrangements from abroad, the importer shall process import transactions after confirmation from the supplier’s Bank. This temporary/one-time facilitation shall be available until March 31st 2023, only to clear the backlog of import shipments.

The Deputy Governor, SBP, on 365 days of the payment term, stated that importers can approach them, and they would take up the matter with the Banks. In the end, Dr Inayat also hoped that the current situation would certainly notice an improvement in days to come ahead. However, normalization in the overall condition will take time. Finally, he assured the PCA delegation that SBP would continue facilitating the business community.

Dr Inayat Hussain, Dr Asif Ali, Director (SBP), Mr Siraj Uddin, Chairman, Mr Muhammad Yousuf, Mr Khalid Khanani, Mr Musa Yahya Baghpatee, Mr Usman Umer,  Ahsan Akbar Farooqui, Mr Iftekhar Rahat were present in the meeting.