Trade Bodies Urge Govt To For Restore Cash-in-counter Facility For Trade With Afghanistan, CARs

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jul, 2021 ) :Trade bodies on Friday urged the government to restore cash-in-counter facility for doing trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs).

Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, Convener of Pakistan Railways Central Standing Committee of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Deputy Convener of Afghan Transit Trade Central Standing Committee and Imtiaz Ahmad Ali, Chairman of Land Route Standing Committee, in a joint statement, said the imposition of ban on doing trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics in Pakistani Currency in wake of elimination of cash-in-counter facility would create hurdles for the traders, exporters and importers. It did not augur well as far as the national economy was concerned, they claimed.

They said the cessation of cash-in-counter facility would have negative impact on Pak-Afghan trade as Afghanistan had been a war-torn country for the last several decades and the current initiative would cause irreparable damage to the Pakistani economy.

They claimed that due to difficulties in exports from Pakistan, Afghanistan was now importing from India, Iran and Central Asian countries, especially cement, steel, ghee, edible oil, rice, medicine and food.

They viewed that due to weak banking system and poor law and order situation, Afghanistan was the only country from which certified payments and receipts through banking channels were not necessary for trade.

They said,"The volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan stood at 2.5 billion Dollars five years ago when the facility was in vogue. But now it has come down to less than 600 million."