F.P. Report
FAISALABAD: Faisalabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FWCCI) President Qurrat-ul-Ain Thursday urged the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to further amend its salary refinance scheme for payment of wages and salaries to workers and employees of various industrial and business concerns during the coronavirus lockdown period.
Commenting on the recently amended salary refinance scheme of the SBP, she demanded that financial help must be doled out to the private sector with zero-markup and without any banking spread. She said that the SBP had further reduced the markup for active taxpayers from four to three per cent while the commercial banks had been allowed to charge three per cent additional spread.
“It means that the borrowers will have to pay total 6% for the period, they are not earning and their workers are also exempted to attend the businesses or office concerned.”
She said that small women entrepreneurs were unable to earn even a single penny because of the lockdown, and how they could pay additional amount of six per cent to the banks under the said re-finance scheme of the SBP.
She said that the SBP should re-consider the scheme particularly for women entrepreneurs and try to mitigate their sufferings.
