A member of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), while discussing the board’s assessment, said that 90% of US dollars are being held in Pakistan and currency smuggling only makes up 10% of it.
According to a national daily, Mukarram Jah Ansari, a member of FBR, said that customs has increased its vigilance at entry and exit points in the country. This includes airports to stop currency smuggling.
Here is what he said:
It’s the responsibility of other regulators and law-enforcement agencies to take action against those involved in speculation and hoarding of the greenback. We have found that the US dollar is cheaper in the neighbouring country; however, we have increased our vigilance in the bordering areas to curb terror financing.
Ansari stated that dollars and Saudi Riyals were seized by the FBR in certain instances. According to the assessment, only 10% are being smuggled while 90% are hoarding dollars.
FBR members also stated that the government is working to sign Electronic Data Integration (EDI) agreements with various Central Asian Republics (CARs), Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in order to reduce mis-invoicing and under-invoicing.
He discussed various issues that could be addressed to reform customs and improve the performance of the tax collection agency. He stated that Pakistan and China had already signed an EDI Agreement and were now exchanging trade data through the internet.
He added that China had agreed to increase the aggregate value of its goods quarterly following immense efforts. The discrepancy between bilateral trade-related data is now less than 3 billion. This compares to a gap of more than $6 billion per annum a few years ago.
He stated that the customs department teamed up with the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics to conduct studies on mis-invoicing, smuggling, and the mandate to determine the exact levels. He said that the results of the studies would be available at the end of the current financial year 2022-23.
He stated that the FBR would develop an action plan to stop mis-invoicing, smuggling, and other forms of fraud. It is relevant to mention that under-invoicing is expected to cause billions of dollars in losses annually, harming the economy significantly.
Except FBR realise today every other person in market knows about it. Importers always buy dollars from black market and pay in cash especially to china.
Unfortunately fbr officers reluctant to get out from their cozy offices to learn the market dynamics.