UNISAME asks SBP to direct banks for releasing import documents

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said many SME units have closed down due to no inventory as goods are lying uncleared in customs.
Thaver invited the attention of SBP that due to no raw material the exports are also blocked.
Secondly the SME units are employing on an average 30 to 40 labourers and due to closure of production the labourers will suffer as they may be relieved if the banks delay further release of documents.
Salim Merchant an importer and exporter of second hand clothing and convener second hand clothing committee of Unisame said we import second hand clothing and re-export it after reprocessing it for almost 3 times its value.
Our segment does the best value addition. He added that after exporting the second hand clothing we cater to the cold areas of the northern areas by supplying them warm and long clothing items for the under privileged population at exceptionally low prices.
Hassan Ibrahim importer of solar panels said the banks delay in releasing import documents is causing us heavy losses and said we fail to understand that on the one hand the government is talking of promotion of solar energy and on the other hand discouraging imports of solar panels. He said the SBP must declare a clear cut policy for import of solar panels as it will help in filling the energy gap to an extent.
Ali Haider another importer said every single day delay is costing us almost Rs 1 lac detention and demurrage and the amount of detention and demurrage after about 3 to 4 weeks exceeds the value of the goods and we are inclined to not retire the documents as it is a matter of total loss to us but than we are compelled to retire the documents as otherwise we will be black listed.
Many SME segments are sitting hand on hand and are out of business. They had high hope that on the release of IMF loan the situation would improve but instead of financing SME imports the government imported vehicles worth millions of dollars said an owner of a closed unit.
UNISAME Council members urged the SBP to look into this matter and direct the commercial banks not to delay release of documents unnecessarily as the SME importers have expressed willingness to make banks comfortable by depositing equivalent amounts to cover the invoice value of the imported goods which the bank can remit on due date in case of deferred payment bills of exchange.