Pharmaceutical manufacturers have warned that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) refusal to issue letters of credit (LCs) could trigger a medicine shortage as local banks are not issuing the document required for the import of raw material and medical devices due to dollar liquidity crunch.
“The State Bank Pakistan (SBP) has verbally conveyed to all local banks not to open LCs for the import of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) due to shortage of dollars in the country. We have the money to buy medicines’ raw material from abroad but dollars liquidity crunch in the country may result in shortage of medicines in Pakistan in the weeks and months ahead,” Arshad Mahmood, Chairman of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), North Region, told newsmen after attending the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health meeting.
“Most of the pharmaceutical companies have only two months’ raw material available with them and they are unable to place orders for the raw material for the future. If LCs are not opened soon, it may result in medicine shortages like the shortage of Panadol, which was not available in most parts of the country.”
“The Panadol shortage was due to the price issue but now we are facing double jeopardy as on the one hand prices are not being increased while on the other hand, raw material is not being imported due to dollars’ unavailability with the central bank,” Arshad Mehmood added.
The PPMA’s head for the North Region briefed the MPs that imports make up the majority of Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry’s raw materials.
Mahmood claimed that the depreciation of the rupee, rising fuel prices, higher transportation costs, and growing wages were all contributing factors to the rising cost of manufacturing as well as the rising cost of raw materials.
The PPMA representative further explained that, in contrast to other businesses, the state and manufacturers regulated the prices of medications, and they were unable to raise them on their own. Since their cost of production has become intolerable for manufacturers, certain of the necessary drugs are no longer produced and are not offered on the local market, he noted.
