October 11, 2001	Thursday	Rajab 23, 1422

ISLAMABAD, Oct 10: Pakistan’s imports have declined by 20 per cent in one month period causing Rs5 billion shortfall in revenues.

“Before the September 11 we were on target but then terrorist attack on America caused reduction both in imports and exports which is not good for the economy,” said Member, Direct Taxes, and the Spokesman of the Central Board of Revenue(CBR), Vakil Ahmad Khan.

He told Dawn here on Wednesday that there had been Rs2 billion reduction in sales tax, Rs2 billion in customs and Rs1 billion in central excise — total Rs5 billion. “And this happened only in one month, precisely in 25 days,” he said.

owever, he said, there was no impact on direct taxes as the collection in this behalf was according to the target.

Replying to a question, he said, post-Sept 11 turmoil has hit exports as well, although correct estimates were being worked out presently. However, he agreed that the loss would be $1.5 billion as worked out by Minister for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood before leaving for Washington last week.

“Now all depends on the outcome of the commerce minister’s visit to the United States,” he said hoping that Dawood would be able to have a better deal with the Americans.

“If our textile quota is increased and if there is no consumers resistance, we would hopefully meet our export as well as revenue collection targets,” Vakil Ahmad Khan said.

The officials of the ministry of finance, when contacted, said that economy has shown declining trends after September 11, which was a matter of concern for everybody.

Nevertheless, they claimed that Pakistan would strike a better deal now that was being negotiated by a delegation, led by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, with the World Bank, IMF and the US State and Treasury Departments. In this regard, President General Pervez Musharraf’s meeting with American Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin last week was also being given a lot of importance.

“The feedback we are getting from the delegation currently visiting the United States is very” encouraging, an official said. He did not rule out the possibility of US writing off its $3 billion loan or converted them into a grant-in-aid for social sectors.

He also claimed that initial understanding has been reached between Pakistani delegation and the World Bank/IMF official that Islamabad would be offered over $2 billion Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) because it has fulfilled most of the conditionalities attached to $596 million standby arrangement (SBA) that ended on September 30.

Another official of the Ministry of Commerce said that the US and the European Union have initially agreed to offer special export incentives to Pakistan. In this regard, he said, the European Union would offer special package, which includes exports on concessional terms and in some cases without quota restrictions.