Staff Correspondent

The interim government has withdrawn the tax on importing onions to ease high market prices following the recent floods, market crisis and stalling of freight transport surrounding the mass movement in July and August.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) also reduced the duties on imported potatoes and pesticides.

The import tax on pesticides has been decreased to 5 percent from 25 percent, an NBR notice said on Thursday. Also, all regulatory tax and value added tax (VAT) were withdrawn.

The potato import duty dropped by 10 percent from 25 percent and now stands at 15 percent.

A 3 percent regulatory duty was also withdrawn.

The 5 percent regulatory duty on onion imports has been withdrawn completely, NBR said.

"In July and August, freight transport across the country was disrupted due to the mass movement and has yet to return to normal," the notice said. "Moreover, the transport of goods is still hampered by the ongoing flooding in the eastern regions of the country."

Considering the circumstances, import partners and relevant ministries requested the NBR to take measures to reduce the prices of essentials including pesticides, onions, and potatoes, it said.

As the lion's share of the local demands for potatoes and onions is met by local production, lower import tax reduces protectionist measures and motivates the farmers to produce more potatoes and onions, the notice said. Hence, the tax reduction will be active until Nov 30, 2024, it said.

NBR hopes that the measure would keep the prices of those two essentials at a tolerable level and motivate farmers for long-term production of potatoes and onions.

The revenue collector said it would continue to play a key role in the future to collect revenues needed to implement development programmes in the country and provide policy support to the state.