F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Backing the ongoing protest of traders’ community against increasing inflation, prices of electricity, gas and petroleum products, the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) asked the interim government to revise its decision in the best interest of economy of the country and warned if not do so, extreme steps would be taken against it.
Ijaz Khan Afridi, acting president of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in a statement issued here on Thursday, said the government was virtually unseen in the country wherein economy and matters were deteriorating with each passing day.
We don’t know who is running the country? Ijaz Afridi said economic, trade and commercial activities had adversely affected owing to frequently increasing electricity, gas tariffs, high dollar and petroleum products prices, However, he criticized the incumbent interim government for keeping a complete mum in this regard and busied in endorsement policies of the previous coalition government which had departed by leaving the national economy in an extremely dangerous situation, which is highly deplorable. Afridi made it clear that the country’s economy, businesses and sustainable progress cannot come until the resolving issues of the businessmen and provision of facilities and incentives to them.
The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI)’s chief asked the interim government to restrain from enforcement of anti-business and trade hostile initiatives and frame business-friendly policies in consultation with chambers, traders’ bodies and relevant stakeholders to put the national economy on a path of sustainable growth.
He questioned: “How the economy, trade, exports, business and exports could flourish when dollars were unavailable and its rate surged up over Rs300?” Ijaz Afridi warned that if the interim government didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, the national economy would completely collapse and Pakistan may face Sri Lanka-like situations.
Pakistan is economically currently unstable while industries, business, trade and exports are also plunging down with each passing day, the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) chief remarked. Therefore, he asked the interim government to take pragmatic steps to resolve issues being faced by the business community and to revive the country’s ailing economy. He furthermore asked that independent economic policies should be framed to free the country from the clutches of foreign financial lenders/institutions forever.
