Lockdown should not be further extended, demanded by Multan Chamber

MULTAN, April 9th:.Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) held a meeting of Senior member under the chairmanship of its President Sheikh Fazal Elahi to review the arising situation after prolonged lockdown.The member have expressed concern over the critical economic crisis perpetrating due to the prolonged corona lockdown and said that Pakistan has entered the severe economic crisis.The closure of markets is set to push down industrial output and impact employees the most. The entire supply chain will be disrupted. Imports and exports are set to shrink. The drop in transportation service is likely to render many drivers, including those running cabs and rickshaws, jobless.
President MCCI has demanded that government must finalize SOP for comprehensive precautionary measures to be adopted by traders to restart their business activities from April 14, 2020. “However, if immediate decision was not taken, the starvation will over-shadow the threats of corona virus”, Sheikh Fazal Elahi warned and added that this situation may also force unemployed daily wage earners to indulge in loot and plunder.
He said that corona related lockdown was started from March 24 and during last 13 days; the government has taken commendable measures to contain the pandemic but without considering its side effect on our social and economic life. He told that in addition to the daily wage earners the white collared trading class is also now feeling the heat of continuous lockdown. He told that immediately after the lockdown, the business and industrial community had started their philanthropic activities and ration was provided to the unemployed daily wagers while industrialists have also announced to give full pay to their employees despite of the lockdown.
He told that situation has now entirely changed during the last two weeks and traders are facing severe liquidity crunch. He told that many traders have rented premises and their landlords are demanding rent while they need money to fulfill their own family needs in addition to paying the utility bills.The Multan Chamber suggested that Government should provide mark-up free loans to industrialists to pay the wages to their staff and this amount must be recovered in easy instalments during next 18 months.
It further suggested that recovery of mark-up on industrial loans must be deferred for a year and it should be recovered quarterly in four instalments.
President of MCCI Sheikh Fazal Elahi demanded that lockdown should not be further extended as it will trigger a new kind of social and economic crisis in the country. He also demanded that government should defer collection of utility bills for next three months. Similarly, the consumers with 300 units of electricity or gas users with billed amount up to Rs.1000/- may be totally exempted from payment for the months of March, April and May.
Sheikh Fazal Elahi has demanded relaxation for small traders and shopkeepers and urged the government to allow 9 to 5 business in the markets. He said that the government has taken an appreciable step by allowing operations to the export-oriented industries but relief should also be given to the small traders and shopkeepers who were facing severe financial crunch.
“These people are backbone of the economy and playing a great role in providing employment and revenue”, he said and added that allowing 5 to 9 working hours would be a great favor that would enable them to face the challenges posed by coronavirus.