With the connivance of the Deputy Commissioner, 27,000 vehicles of Iranian oil were entering daily (Photo: File).
Islamabad: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar has said that smuggling and illegal trade in foreign currency is a threat to the existence of Pakistan.
While talking informally to senior journalists, he revealed that 27 thousand vehicles of smuggled Iranian oil were entering Pakistan illegally every day with the connivance of local authorities. For the entry of these vehicles, the concerned Deputy Commissioner was being bribed between Rs. The Deputy Commissioner was also giving shares to those who played a role in smuggling.
He said that the illegal movement of these vehicles across the border has almost stopped, although the smuggling has not stopped completely. He said that the military and civilian leadership launched a decisive campaign against smuggling. This is the second such campaign in the last three years but this time the crackdown was severe. It was my decision to stop the smuggling of Iranian oil to Pakistan, on which the Pakistan Army started a large-scale crackdown, playing an important role.
Also read: The dollar fell to a 6-month low
The prime minister added that before August, the smuggling of Iranian oil was considered legal by many people. Unemployment has been attributed to the continued existence of smuggling in Balochistan. For which government jobs were deliberately kept vacant. He said that in 2020, the then government also launched a crackdown on the smuggling of products from Iran, which was estimated at $2 billion annually.
He said that the routes of illegal supply of goods to other parts of the country through Balochistan were closed three years ago. As a result, 1,674 illegal POL retail outlets were sealed, 1,155 FIRs were registered and 781 applications were filed under the Customs Act to freeze assets.
He revealed that only 11 items have caused a loss of about $3.5 billion to the national exchequer in terms of duties and taxes.
The caretaker prime minister said that on the occasion of his participation in the United Nations General Assembly, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva informed about the measures to stop currency smuggling. He informed them that Pakistan did not use its low foreign exchange reserves to depreciate the dollar against the rupee. He was asked whether the international lender would extend a new loan to Pakistan if the elections go beyond January.
Also read: Bank guarantee equivalent to taxes levied on imported goods made mandatory in Afghan transit trade
He replied that he is likely to maintain contacts with Pakistan as he is in contact with both elected and unelected governments around the world. It should be noted that Pakistan’s current IMF program will end on April 12 next year. It is happening. He said that the question of taxing the rich was not raised by the Managing Director of the IMF, but I told him that Pakistan will tax its rich people.
The Prime Minister said that I want to tax lawyers, doctors, journalists, media owners and retailers. Everyone should pay taxes due.
Asked about extending the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council under the Army to areas not defined in the governing law, the Prime Minister said that the Board of Investments Amended Act will notify the federal government through a gazette notification. mandates to bring any new territory under the ambit of
In response to another question, the Prime Minister said that no new notification has been issued yet to bring new areas in the Special Investment Facility Council fold. According to the law, the Special Investment Facilitation Council will facilitate investment and privatization in sectors including defence, agriculture, infrastructure development, strategic initiatives, logistics, minerals, information technology, telecommunications and energy, but Not limited to them.
Talking about privatisation, the Prime Minister said that the government will outline its policy by December this year to stem the losses of power distribution companies. He said that various proposals are under consideration, including signing concession agreements with the private sector and handing over these companies to the provinces.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));