PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has cautioned the federal authorities that the continued closure of trade at the Pakistan–Afghanistan border is inflicting heavy revenue losses and triggering job cuts in the province.
In a letter addressed to Federal Commerce Minister Jam Kamal, KP Adviser on Finance Muzzammil Aslam said cross-border commercial activity had been severely disrupted, with trade “effectively coming to a halt”. He noted that the situation was particularly alarming at a time when Pakistan is grappling with declining exports, sluggish economic growth and rising unemployment.
Aslam said the province had been informed of an “alarming” 80 per cent drop in collections of the Infrastructure Development Cess, a levy directly linked to border trade. He attached a letter from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) detailing the sharp fall in tax receipts and underlining broader revenue challenges.
Calling for urgent action, the finance adviser urged the convening of a high-level meeting involving federal and provincial stakeholders to assess the revenue impact on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and address the difficulties being faced by exporters and traders.
Border closure
Pakistan’s main border crossings with Afghanistan have remained shut to regular trade and transit since October 10, 2025, following deadly clashes along the frontier and reports of Pakistani airstrikes. Islamabad has attributed the escalation to its demand that Kabul take action against militants it says operate from Afghan soil—a claim denied by the Taliban.
Although a ceasefire was discussed during talks hosted by Qatar and Turkey and was reported to be holding, trade has yet to resume, with negotiations stalled as both sides continue to trade blame.
In early December, Pakistani officials said Islamabad had approved a limited humanitarian exemption to allow UN relief consignments into Afghanistan, while keeping the broader border closure in place for commercial trade.
More recently, fresh efforts have been made to break the impasse through trade-focused engagement. Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to form a 13-member joint committee to hold formal negotiations at Torkham aimed at easing border management issues and restoring cross-border trade.
