The 2023-24 fiscal budget has been the subject of much discussion in Pakistan. For the automotive sector, it is of little substance.
According to the details, the government will move forward with the existing plan under the Automotive Industry Development and Export Policy (AIDEP) 2022-26. This means no increase or decrease in taxes for new cars.
With that in mind, the news car owners should expect some good news and some bad news. Firstly, the budget was expected to include Advance Income Tax, Capital Value Tax, and Custom Duty hikes on new cars in Pakistan.
Fortunately, the tax document includes no such clauses. Therefore, the good news is that car prices will not increase as a result of the possible hikes in the aforementioned tax rates.
Secondly, due to the ongoing economic meltdown, the government hasn’t provided any relief to the car industry either. Therefore, the bad news is that there will be no reduction in car prices for the foreseeable future.
The industry is set for a bumpy new fiscal year, with carmakers struggling to stay afloat. Under such circumstances, any new launches or developments seem implausible.
Still being small size and lack of localisation from decades govt should allow car companies to import the CBU units and provide after sales services to customers rather than assembling featureless and terrible build quality vehicles.
Allowing import means spending dollars. Where will the dollars come from if there is no export from country. All imports should be banned and industry encouraged to localize everything.