Pakistan In Debt: But In 6 Months Rs 27 Billion Worth Of Luxury Cars Was Imported!

During the last few years, Pakistan is facing difficulties due to the economic crisis and huge increase in debt burden. In December, the Pak Sukuzi Motor Company (PSMC), the joint venture partner of the Japanese car company Suzuki in Pakistan, announced the shutdown of production. At the same time, Indus Motor Company (IMC), which assembles Toyota vehicles in Pakistan, halted production in December. However, despite this, the demand for luxury cars in Pakistan has increased rapidly. Pakistan has reportedly spent USD 1.2 billion (about 27,582 crore Pakistani rupees) on importing transportation goods, including luxury cars, high-end electric vehicles and their parts, in the past 6 months.

According to Pakistan Geo News, while on one hand, Pakistan is trying to reduce the import of essential items, on the other hand, the import of expensive and luxury cars is increasing in the country. The report states that over the past 6 months, Pakistan has imported US$530.5 million worth of Completely Built Units (CBUs) and some critical parts (about 118.2 billion Pakistani rupees).

Certainly, the continuation of the country’s policy of reducing and preventing the importation of even essential goods on the one hand, and the large-scale importation of luxury vehicles and spare parts on the other hand, raises questions about Pakistan’s policies. The report further states that Pakistan has planned to import USD 75 million worth of buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles (approximately 17 billion Pakistani rupees), automobiles worth USD 32.6 million (approximately 7 billion Pakistani rupees ).

Pakistan imported US$722.5 million worth of heavy vehicles (around PKR 161 billion) and cars worth US$498 million (around PKR 111 billion) in the past 6 months. According to the report, motorcycles worth US$27.6 million have also been imported.

The extravagant imports don’t stop there, the country has spent US$188.6 million (about 42 billion Pakistani rupees) importing auto parts and accessories, as well as US$47.7 million on planes, ships and speedboats.

In December alone, Pakistan imported US$140.7 million worth of transportation, of which US$47.5 million was on car imports, US$27 million on spare parts, US$3.6 million on motorcycles, US$25 million have been spent on buses , trucks and heavy vehicles . In addition, $22.4 million has been spent on aircraft, ships, and launches.