LAHORE: The government has decided in principle to reduce customs duty to accelerate industrial growth ahead of the next general election.
The tariff reduction on these tariff lines will directly benefit 40-50 industries including textile, pharma, engineering, footwear, and chemicals. The tariff lines are selected in a fashion to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and encourage import substitution of major consumer items in the country.
As per decisions, there will be major reduction in duty on 600 tariff lines while rate of additional customs duty may be reduced on more than 2,400 tariff lines in the budget 2021-22 to reduce cost of doing business, it is disclosed.
Government studies show that tariff rationalisation plan of the government has led to industrial growth in the country. Exemption of duty on raw materials leads to its bulk import and subsequent exports of those industries.