Such decisions make Pakistan’s industrial sector uncompetitive in the regional and global markets, says Fazal Moqeem
PESHAWAR
Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry voiced strong frustration over the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) decision to maintain the status quo on interest rates and warned that the policy continues to choke economic growth and industrial recovery.
Fazal Moqeem Khan, president Abdul Jalil Jan, senior vice president Shehryar Khan, vice president along with members of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s executive committee expressed intense disappointment over the SBP’s decision to keep the interest rate unchanged at 11 percent.
They described the move by the central bank had undermined business sentiment and posed challenges for industrialists, entrepreneurs, and investors.
The SCCI chief emphasized that such high interest rates have rendered Pakistan’s industrial sector uncompetitive in the regional and global markets.
Senior office bearers urged the central bank to reconsider the 11 percent interest rate amid economic growth concerns.
Fazal Moqeem Khan said they have consistently made the demand of a single-stroke cut of 500bps to align monetary policy with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the Prime Minister’s vision for industrial growth, export promotion, and import substitution.
By disregarding the longstanding demand of the SCCI to bring the interest rate into the single digits, the central bank has dashed their hopes for economic recovery and growth, senior office bearers lamented.
The SCCI chief went on to say that this was a good opportunity for the SBP to reduce the interest rate to a single digit, offering hope to disappointed businesspeople and boosting economic growth.
He said the chamber acknowledged that apprehensions and factors that have restrained SBP to bring down policy rate but it is also completely contradictory to take such a decision by ignoring the ground realities.
The rationale behind not reducing the policy rate despite a visible decline in inflation, Moqeem questioned.
He claimed the interest rate was being kept artificially high without economic justification.
At such a critical juncture, this decision seems ill-timed and presents a potential obstacle to the country’s economic progress,” he said.
The SCCI president expressed hope that the government, along with the Finance Minister and the Governor of the State Bank, would recognize the urgency of the situation and engage with the business sector, and take concrete steps towards restoring economic confidence and accelerating recovery.
