KARACHI: President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Irfan Iqbal Sheikh has categorically apprised the government that the entire business, industry and trade community of Pakistan has refused to accept a key policy rate of 21 percent; after today’s further rise of 100 basis points. No commercial bank will now lend to private-sector for anything less than 23.5 to 24 percent, he added.

He questioned the efficacy of country’s monetary policy and noted that interest rate has been increased by a whopping 11.25 percent in a quick succession of last 14 months without attaining any intended headway in the curtailment of inflation; and, if that is not the governance & regulatory failure, then what will be the failure look like to move the government for a course correction?

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh highlighted that Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected Pakistan’s economic growth in FY23 at only 0.6 percent in its latest release pertaining to country’s state of economy on 4th April 2023; and, this bleak economic outlook is the direct outcome of the contractionary, regressive, IMF-dictated and recessionary monetary policy; which has dried out the access to finance for businesses.

FPCCI Chief also stressed that the exports are heading north as it has posted a negative growth in export numbers for the seventh month in a row by posting 14.76 percent YoY decline in March 2023. He added that FPCCI is worried that the two major industries where the government should have had its focus vis-à-vis growth in export earnings are in systematic decline, i.e., textiles have declined by 11 percent, IT & ITeS by 3 percent – and, the yearly decline in textiles alone can be up to $3 billion or upwards of 15 percent.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023