LAHORE: The Ferozepur Road Industrial Association (FRIA) has called for a significant cut in the monetary policy rate to attain the high position in Ease of Doing Business ranking, amidst high markup rate and rising energy prices. In a statement issued today, FRIA senior vice chairman Shahbaz Aslam said that the already high cost of production has drastically reduced private sector borrowings during the outgoing fiscal year, besides the country has been far behind in the ease of doing business ranking. So, a major cut in markup rate was due, as constant high discount rate has been deteriorating the economic conditions, he added. He said the SBP had kept the rate very high for the last many years, mainly to curb soaring inflation. However, it started holding rates steady for some time saying inflation had down in this period. DNA
