The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has imposed 25 per cent Regulatory Duty (RD) on import of 75 luxury products. With the imposition of the duty, prices of various imported items, like - refrigerator, air conditioner, CBU motorcycle, fresh fruit, fruit juice, chocolate, wafer, granite, stone, bottled water, sanitary towel, luxury saree, salwar kamij, and lehenga etc will go up. The board has imposed the duty to ease pressure on the country's foreign exchange reserve, following recommendations of the Ministry of Commerce.
The apex chamber body chief said local industries will achieve booming growth as a result of the step. Former finance adviser Dr. A B Mirza Azizul Islam strongly opposed the move, saying hike of duty on such adhoc basis will tarnish the country's image in global market. He suggested that the government should review the trade policy thoroughly to revise import duty. Besides, import of luxury products is rather insignificant in the country, so, it is not creating pressure on external reserve.It is necessary to focus on increasing export through diversification of the country's export basket rather than controlling import, he added.
