LAHORE: Lack of coordination between Pakistan Customs and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has put the importers to face hardships in doing business endangering improving Ease-of-Doing Business Index of the country.
This was stated by Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry executive committee member and Ferozpur Road traders’ leader while talking to Customs Today.
He said that miscommunication between banks and the customs department has put the importers to face hardships as banks have resorted to demand irrelevant documents from importers due to precious time of the business community being wasted which ultimately makes doing business difficult from the businessmen.
He said that State Bank of Pakistan must have to train the bank officials dealing with the importers on how to deal with the businessmen.
Due to the lack of training of the bankers they ask businessmen to produce irrelevant documents. Obviously there will be a visible difference between the retailers and the whole sellers business. When a wholesaler places his order for a big quantity to import he is given special discounts which are naturally not available for the retailers, he said adding that, here the bank officials tease the importers.
“The importers have to face numerous problems in making payments abroad for the imported goods and raw-material. On the basis of customs valuation of the goods and articles bank officials always create hurdles in the way of payments abroad which put the businessmen to face uncalled for delays in various processes of the trade and industry,” Khadim Hussain said.
He said when the goods are not cleared due to the unnecessary demands of documents by the bankers from the importers, the later have to face huge demurrages and detention at the port terminals which does not only add to the cost of production but also cause to increase the general level of the prices of goods and articles.
He suggested that the bank should not indulge them and the customers unnecessarily understand the customs business wasting the bank’s time and the customers as well. This is very hectic exercise which possesses huge losses on importers.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should notify the banks to stop the exercise of creating hurdles in making payment in the abroad for the goods and articles and raw-material or the banks and customs themselves improve their coordination and communication to avoid hurdles in the way of smooth flow of trade and industry.
If the SBP does not make the banks to stop impediments in the way of importers in making payments to sellers abroad this will prove a heavy blow to the improving index of Ease-of-Doing-Business in the country, he concluded.
