Export Sector Challenges of Pakistan Could Resolve via Gold’s Export

Pakistan is facing mammoth issues in export sector, all of which could be resolved if country starts exporting gold. This was stated by Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq in a meeting of sub-committee of Senate’s Standing Committee on Commerce. The meeting held under the chairmanship of Senator Fida Mohammad. Senator Kakar, while urging Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar to bring a policy in this regard, highlighted that the government is trying to silence his voice by stating that gold comes under the category of luxury items. Senator Kakar questioned that why import of raw gold is banned in the country when import of jewelry is allowed. He further stated that India is exporting gold on a large scale. How could Pakistan export the gold, as the country can’t even legally import the gold at the moment, he questioned. Special Secretary Commerce Division stated on the occasion that the import of 5 tonnes gold worth $300 million is permitted as per government regulations. However, the import is temporarily banned owing to decreased foreign exchange reserves. Furthermore, he informed the meeting that commerce ministry could not approve a policy in this regard unless permitted by Finance Ministry and State Bank of Pakistan.