Pakistan lifts ban on luxury goods

165
1
Pakistan lifts ban on luxury goods

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said ISLAMABAD Pakistan lifted an import ban on luxury goods on Thursday, but such items will be heavily taxed.

In May, Pakistan banned the import of all non-essential luxury goods to a balance of payments crisis to stabilise the economy.

Ismail told reporters at a news conference in Islamabad that the policies he introduced to stabilise the economy had worked well.

He said that Pakistan's foreign reserves will increase with funding from the International Monetary Fund IMF. He said the IMF board will meet on August 29 to decide whether to approve the seventh and eighth reviews, which would allow the disbursement of more than $1.1 billion to Pakistan.

The board will meet later this month, according to the IMF.

Pakistan's central bank reserves have fallen as low as $7.8 billion, which would cover little more than a month of imports.