Islamabad: Advisor to Prime Minister (PM) on Commerce Razak Dawood said that PM Imran Khan has approved the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) for five years, a news source reported. As per the publication, the adviser said that the federal government would make major changes in the country’s trade policies.
Dawood said that the new trade policy would give incentives to the value-added sectors and will include 26 sectors in total. He said that the current 3 percent average duty drawback will be changed for several traditional sectors, including vegetables, fruits, poultry, auto parts, pharmaceutical, and engineering. The PM’s aid further revealed that the duty drawback would not be applied to the textile sector because ‘no growth has been observed in the sector’.
Also, the government has placed fixed export targets at USD 26 billion, USD 31 billion, USD 35 billion, USD 40 billion, and USD 46 billion for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 respectively.
Presently, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) keeps records of sales tax refunds and duty drawbacks, while the Ministry of Commerce observes the Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL). However, the new policy framework will authorise the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to oversee these subjects.
