The highest mark-up on bank loans, higher power tariff and four-day gas loadshedding are badly hitting the industry and cost of exportable items had increased manifold and now we are unable to compete with India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, said Shahid Naseem Khokhar President of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
He was addressing a press conference along with Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan former President, Ata Shafi Tanvir, senior Vice President and Khawaja Muhammad Usman, former SVP. They expressed their concern over the suspension of the gas supply to the industries located in the Southern Punjab area for four and half days a week owing to a shortfall between the demand and supply of gas.
Khokhar said that industry was already facing hardships due to loadshedding of electricity and local manufacturers are unable to meet the demand of foreign buyers and they are losing their customers abroad. They said that they were facing inflation and there are many causes of inflation, it can happen when government prints a lot of money to deal with a crisis or extra money is created, it will increase some societal group's buying power. As a result, prices end up rising at an extremely high speed to keep up with the currency surplus.
Khokhar strongly opposed the increase in mark-up rate upto 18 percent, which is the highest in the world. This step taken by the central bank would increase the cost of doing business and certainly hit the all sectors hard. He said that the MCCI and business community have been stressing the government for reduction in the mark-up rate but it was increased which is highly detrimental for the industry. The business community is already affected by the high electricity charges and gas tariff, he maintained.
He said the mark-up rate under EFS was already on the higher side and there was no justification for its further increase. The cost of doing business will increase further and Pakistani products will be uncompetitive in the world market.
Khokhar also criticised the government's decision for increasing the electricity tariff every month under the pressure of IMF and other financing agencies terming it harmful for both the trade and industry and urged the government to withdraw it immediately.
The manufacturing sector is already in distress due to high cost of doing business, he added. They appealed to the government to take stock of the gloomy situation as a result of the above increase in SBP's higher mark-up, refinance rate, gas loadshedding and electricity tariff and save the industry from further losses and avoid announcing any further unfriendly business policies particularly at the present critical juncture.