FBR refunds Rs30 billion to 554 exporters to address liquidity crunch

ISLAMABAD: In order to resolve a liquidity crunch being faced by exporters, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday refunded Rs30 billion to around 554 entities after canceling debt bonds issued to them.

In a bid to ease liquidity, the government had issued trade-able bonds worth Rs30 billion to exporters a few months ago, but exporters had faced difficulties swapping them, causing problems. 

Exporters had subsequently demanded that the government cancel the bonds and return their face value in cash.

“Yes, we have made a cash payment of the total refund amount of Rs30 billion to 554 persons,” FBR member inland revenue policy Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar confirmed to The News. The FBR also announced that it has disbursed payment to exporters/bond holders by redeeming bonds issued to the refund claimants.

The government took this step in order to resolve the liquidity crunch being faced by the traders.Exports have just started picking up momentum as export earnings recorded a 10 per cent increase in recent months after witnessing flat growth in the last few years.