KCCI urges Governor SBP to Revisit, Withdraw extortionate hike in Interest Rate

Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala and President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Muhammad Idrees,

while highly criticizing the State Bank’s move to exorbitantly raise the interest rate by 2.5 percent to 12.5 percent in an emergent meeting, urged Governor SBP to immediately revisit and withdraw this irrational increase as it would prove disastrous for the economy, exports, and the industries.

In a joint statement issued, Chairman BMG and President KCCI stated that the entire business & industrial community was in a state of shock to see SBP’s anti-business, anti-economy, and anti-exports moves which have been taken particularly in a situation when the country’s economy was not so bad. State Bank’s autonomy doesn’t mean that it was free to take such a harsh step overnight which has never happened in 25 years’ of history.

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It was highly unfair to abruptly and exorbitantly raise the interest rates without bothering to hold consultation with the stakeholders, they said, adding that the Karachi Chamber, from time to time, requested Governor State Bank to visit KCCI so that numerous monetary issues and central bank’s policies affecting businesses could be discussed in detail but, unfortunately, Governor SBP has no time to discuss some of the most pressing issues being suffered by the business community of Karachi.

They noted that last month, Pakistan’s exports recorded an increase of 29.1 percent on a Month-on-Month (MoM) basis as compared to last year which clearly indicates that the export sector was performing very well but now, the increase in interest rate would have a deeply negative impact on the export performance.

It will be completely disastrous for the industries and future investments as nobody would come forward to set up any industry due to exorbitant interest rates and the high cost of doing business which was going to bring the survival of businesses at stake, cautioned.

Chairman BMG and President KCCI said that the extortionate increase in the interest rate seems like an attempt to completely shut down the industrial and export activities.

Is the State Bank intending to completely block the desperately needed foreign exchange being earned through exports and bring Pakistan’s economy at par with the Sri Lankan economy, they asked and advised the SBP to compare Pakistan’s excessive interest rate with the global interest rates which, we fear, would cool down the economic activities.

They said that the decision to increase the interest rate has been taken to contain inflation but keeping in view the ground realities and the overall high cost of doing business, the business and industrial community firmly believes that enhanced interest rate would prove counter-productive by further nurturing the inflation.

Chairman BMG said, “As leader of the business community of Karachi, I fervently demand that the decision to raise the interest rate must be revisited which is purely not in the interest of the country hence it has to be taken back while the SBP must also hold consultations with the stakeholders prior to imposing such decision directly affecting the business and industrial activities.”

President KCCI said that the increase in dollar value was due to political turmoil, not because of poor economic performance which has not yet been suffered by impact of rising oil prices hence, the State Bank must refrain from creating more problems for the economy.