KARACHI – Pakistan is currently facing hard times due to alarming slump inforeign exchange reserves and another crisis is looming that could affectthe tea lovers in the country.
An official of the Pakistan Team Association (PTA) said around 300containers carrying tea were struck at the Karachi for a month, warningthat the commodity could be rare by next month if these were not releasedtimely.
The South Asian country spends over $600 million to import team, making itthe world’s largest team importer.
The ongoing decline in forex reserves has forced authorities to placerestrictions on import of certain items while the commercial banks are notissuing letters of credit (LCs) to the importers who are upset overnon-clearance of their shipments.
“Around 300 [tea] containers are stuck at the Karachi port and if they arenot released immediately, tea will become a rare commodity by next month,”PTA top official Aman Paracha told Arab News.
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He said the State Bank of Pakistan had asked PTA to submit a request forthe release of their containers on a deferred payment basis.
“We wrote to the state bank but then a restriction was made that only Billof Lading of up until January 18 will be considered,” he said, adding thatthe non-clearance of containers will not only brew a tea crisis but alsocaused losses to the importers.
