Sayeed Muhammad: With a view to check gold smuggling and help boost duty collection from the sector, the government is going to formulate a gold import policy. As per the proposed policy, the VAT registered entities will only be allowed to import gold through opening Letters of Credit (LCs), reports UNB. “If everything goes well, the Finance Minister will make an announcement about the policy in the upcoming national budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year,” said a senior official at the Finance Ministry. The government has formed a nine-member committee for formulation of the policy, and it has already held several meetings. “The gold import policy will be finalised after reviewing the recommendations of the committee,” the Finance Ministry official added. Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the government has decided to prepare a time-befitting policy for gold import after discussions with relevant agencies. “This will help flourish this sector as well as create export market abroad. I hope we can formulate such a policy within this calendar year.” The committee, sources said, is now examining the proposals from the associations of jewellery sector and will be finalised before the budget. They said a paper, prepared by the ministry, said the specific duty on the import of gold bars might be scrapped, if necessary, after the full implementation of the new VAT and Supplementary Duty Act. The import of gold and silver will be done as per the regular import system, not by the baggage rule or the clearance certificate from the central bank, it reads.
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