ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Saturday said the goods stuck at the ports would be gradually released with penalty surcharge.

“To meet with our international obligations, the government has issued an SRO to reverse the ban on imports of luxury items. The goods stuck at the ports will gradually be released with penalty surcharge of up to 100pc of assessed value”, he said in a tweet.

He said the Tariff Policy Board would soon come up with new Regulatory Duty rates that would ensure that the country’s limited foreign exchange is spent on essential items and not on these items that have been unbanned. “We must live within our means”, he added.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2022