Pakistan Targets First Export Jump in Four Years on Tax Breaks
- Tax breaks announced this year to make exports competitive
- China agrees to give tariff concessions: commerce secretary
A street market in Karachi, Pakistan, on Aug. 22, 2017.
Photographer: Asim Hafeez/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Pakistan’s government is targeting a 10 percent jump in exports this financial year after giving tax breaks to businesses, in a bid to reverse a three year slump and ease its widening trade and current account deficits.
Imports will also drop as much as $2 billion after additional levies were imposed on more than 700 “luxury” goods, including cars and nail polish this month, Mohammad Younus Dagha, secretary at the Commerce Ministry, said in an interview. Pakistan also announced a package of 180 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) in February that gives tax breaks to exporters and incentives for them to enter new markets.