KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has appreciated the Finance Ministry decision on shifting payments against exports to Afghanistan from rupee to dollar, saying that the government should also disallow imports payments facility for Afghanistan traders from Pakistan.
In a statement issued here, Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver said the Finance Ministry and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had taken the right decision at a right time, expressing the hope that the decision would leave a far-reaching impact on the national economy, especially the government efforts to stabilise forex reserves.
He suggested imposition of restrictions on Afghan traders who buy foreign currency from Pakistani open market and transfer these funds to pay their import bills.
Import letter of credits are being established in favour of overseas exporters from Pakistan and dollars are being purchased from open market for payments to foreign exporters from different channels. He pointed out that undisclosed money was utilised for payments against imports which was causing heavy demand for dollars.
Thaver urged the Finance Ministry to restrict imports with official disclosed book money and instruct the banks and the custom authorities to verify the money invested in imports.
