Global News

[ad_1] KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday announced a one-time facility for import-driven businesses in crisis, as it directed commercial banks to process import documents to release the majority of goods stuck up at Karachi ports. The directives are expected to gradually ease the crisis of imported raw materials across the industries and reopen factories closed in Pakistan for the time being. The stuck imported goods at domestic ports include foods – such as wheat, pulses, and onions – as well as medicine and medical equipment. The central bank asked commercial banks to process all documents that ensure the imports were made from international suppliers on credit for a minimum of 180 days or more. It also ordered the facilitating of import on international financing arranged by traders themselves. The SBP directed banks to facilitate the import of foods, medicines, and energy as a top priority. Last week, the central bank faced criticism for halting at l

[ad_1] ISLAMABAD: The auto industry has complained that the import of vehicles by grey market has been on a constant rise, which has hurt the business of local manufacturers and distributors. It says the import of vehicles by official distributors and companies stands very low as they are facing restrictions on opening Letters of Credit (LCs) due to dollar crunch in the country. Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association, in a recent letter to the State Bank of Pakistan, pointed out that LC curbs had choked the import of all completely knocked down (CKD) components and auto parts. However, officials of the auto industry argued that the grey market had continued to hit the legal industry as the share of those vehicles reached 64% out of the total vehicles imported in the last fiscal year. They remarked that most of the industries failed to generate green and positive numbers due to mismanagement and the auto sector was no different. While the domestic auto sector was in d