August 9, 2002	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29,1423

ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The commerce ministry has asked the State Bank of Pakistan to make necessary amendments in the imports and exports chapter of Foreign Exchange Manual aiming to facilitate the businessmen.

Official sources told Dawn that in this connection a meeting was held in the commerce ministry here on Thursday which was attended by senior officials of Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and representatives of State Bank to give final touches to the amendments.

The government has announced a number of measures regarding exports and imports in the trade polices of the last couple of years, which were yet to be made part of the imports and exports chapter of the manual.

The decision was taken following the complaints of the importers and exporters, who were facing various problems of cash margin, various procedures related to the opening and negotiating of Letter of Credit, registration of importers and exporters with Export Promotion Bureau, repatriation of foreign proceeds and inclusion of more items into the ambit of exports finance scheme, the officials said.

According to the officials, the establishment of Exim Bank was also being discussed and a committee under the chairmanship of governor, State Bank has also been formed to look into the practical modality for the bank.