The Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) has endorsed the five-point formula of LCCI to overcome ongoing economic crisis after due consultation with stakeholders and economic experts, if acted upon, could put the economy back on the rails.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, MCCI President Anis Ahmed Sheikh suggested to the government to take immediate measures to cut the rate of mark-up, ensure continuous supply of energy to the industrial sector, ease inflationary pressure, improve law and order situation and above all, bring political and economic stability.
Elaborating these suggestions, the MCCI president said that the existing high mark-up rate was not only hitting the country's competitiveness in the global market, but was also coming in the way of industrialisation, which is a prerequisite for progress and prosperity. He said that keeping in view the fast increasing trade gap the government should force the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to announce a cut in the mark-up rate immediately.
At the moment, he said, when the rate of interest was showing a downward trend in most of the developed and developing countries including the US (0.25 per cent), UK (1.5 per cent), Canada (1.5 per cent), Australia (4.25 per cent), Japan (0.1 per cent), China (5.58 per cent), India (5.5 per cent) and Bangladesh (7.61 per cent), the interest rate in Pakistan had jumped to 15 per cent in November 2008 plus a banking spread of up to 8.3 per cent, which is causing an extremely negative impact on the industrial sector.
Quoting the example of GDP growth in China and India, the MCCI president said that the government should provide a level-playing field to Pakistani manufacturers so that they could be able to earn some much-needed foreign exchange for the country. About the energy situation, he said that a large number of industrial units have already closed down their operations due to acute shortage of electricity and gas while the remaining others were on the verge of closure.
He said that the situation had turned so bad that the industry has no money to pay salaries and utility bills and there is a dire need for steps to be taken on war-footing to avert mass lay-offs, he added. He said that the country direly needs wholesome measures to arrest fast increasing inflation as a surge in inflation had not only eroded the purchasing power of the middle class but was also earning a bad name for the government. He said that the inflation could only be controlled by enhancing productivity and by putting curbs on undue expenditures.