New reforms by Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue are expected to significantly ease trade and transit with Afghanistan, including the removal of a 10 percent tax on certain Afghanistan’s export items, according to a statement from the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Chamber announced that these new regulations, formalized through several federal tax ordinances, are designed to strengthen commercial ties between the two nations and remove existing trade barriers.
This development comes as Pakistan’s national newspaper, The Nation, recently reported, citing the State Bank of Pakistan, a substantial increase in Pakistan’s exports of goods and services to Afghanistan. In the first nine months of the current fiscal year (July 2024 to March 2025), these exports surged by 64.48 percent compared to the same period last year.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s figures, Pakistan’s total exports to Afghanistan during this period amounted to $623.285 million, a notable rise from $378.922 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.
However, the report also indicated that Afghanistan’s exports to Pakistan during the same nine-month period were significantly lower, totaling $20.127 million. While these figures do show an increase in Afghan exports to Pakistan compared to the previous year, the amount remains considerably less when measured against Afghanistan’s imports from Pakistan.
The data presented in the report further reveals a concerning trade imbalance: Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan exceeded its imports from Afghanistan by 30.96 percent during this period, signaling a worrying inflation in Afghanistan’s trade balance.
