Consumer goods sales decline steeply

Small traders are holding responsible the country's current economic conditions and deteriorating law and order situation for the decline in trade activities, as retail sales have reduced to 25 percent in recent weeks in the city's major markets.
Talking to Business Recorder on Thursday, retailers expressed apprehensions over the unhealthy economic conditions and said that because of such an uncertain situation the sale of major items including essential commodities have scaled down to 25 percent, presently.
According to them, the government "badly" lacks an efficient policy for stabilising the prices of daily items mainly of common man's use, while the rising prices of various products on a regular basis have had negative impact on the purchasing power of a consumer.
Fareed Qureshi, general secretary of Karachi grocers retailers group (KGRG) said that the sales of essential commodities have also shrunk to 25 percent. He held the high inflation primarily responsible for keeping the consumers away from the retail market selling essential items. "It seems that there is a curfew-like situation in the retail markets."
Muhammad Atiq Mir, chairman of alliance of market associations (AMA) held the incoherent government policies and countrywide uncertain law and order situation responsible for economic decline. He said that at present the consumers are only buying things they are compelled to, whereas the overall sales in the markets are very much lower as compared to the same period of the last year.
Criticising the government, he said that it has failed to even introduce any consumer-friendly policy since it has taken over. He added that unfortunately fresh economic scandals are coming up which have had bad impact on the common man. But, he rejected the impression that the government was unaware of the dollar flight from the country, saying that however the government has cleverly used it as a pretext for paving path for loans from IMF, in which it almost succeeded.
Atiq Mir suggested that unless the government establishes an investor and business friendly environment through visible policies, the capital flight will continue. As a result, economy will further decline to make the local businessmen and common man suffer. The government has to strengthen the consumer's purchasing power if it really intends to underpin its falling economy, he said and added that better law and order situation is must for building the consumer and businessman confidence.