MCCI criticizes increase in policy interest rate by 25 basis points by SBP

MULTAN,Jan 31st: Senior Vice President, Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Khawaja Badar Munir has opposed the increase in  interest rate by 0.25 percent in the monetary policy announced by the Governor State Bank of Pakistan for a period of two months. He said that interest rate should be confined to single digit which has no increased to 10.25 percent
MCCI Senior Vice president  said that industry and business-friendly policy should be introduced instead of over-burdening the business community. The State Bank should adopt long-term policies instead of depending on the short-term policy, he suggested.
He said that the SBP should focus on regulating government spending and unabated borrowing instead of increasing bank interest, which would pressurise industrial sector and industrial production. He said that the SBP had once again reversed the downward trend in the interest rate despite the fact that the industrial sector was still in deep trouble. He said that Pakistan’s exports were jeopardising from the last three to four years. Drastic steps should be taken to fight against the increasing trade deficit, he suggested. He said that export-oriented industry was losing export markets in the USA and European Union due to increased cost of doing business.
He further stated that central bank should adopt long-term policies instead of depending on the short-term policy.