The Minister of Commerce Naveed Qamar will discuss issues related to Rice export with Kenya’s agriculture minister today.
Sources told ProPakistani that the Kenya Agriculture minister would also discuss Tea import-related issues with the Pakistani side.
Rice is a major item that Pakistan exports to Kenya while Islamabad imports Tea from Kenya. Pakistan exports to Kenya recorded $282 million while imports were $500 million in 2022.
Recently, the Pakistan Tea Association (PTA) has also warned of Tea shortages in the country. Sources said that the PTA had asked the Governor State Bank of Pakistan to address Bank documents issues.
‘PTA associations are facing problems to clear their documents due to dollar shortage in banks and unable to release tea containers’ so that will create a shortage of tea and directly affect poor people’s society,” PTA communicated to Governor SBP.
According to PTA, commercial banks are not registering letter of credit (LC) documents due to which consignments are not being released. In addition, the importers are paying $120 demurrage charges to shipping companies on a daily basis due to which importers are badly facing losses.
Recently, tea prices have also swelled to Rs. 1,600 per kg from Rs. 1,100 per kg due to the non-opening of LCs and if these problems are not resolved then the tea rates may further increase in the local market.
