Wholesale market for food items should be opened: KATI

President of Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI) Sheikh Umer Rehan has suggested that wholesale markets of food items and industrial raw materials should be opened to maintain circulation of money which is essential to provide employment.

He said that federal and provincial governments have taken timely decision of resuming industrial and business activities and the traders' community welcomed it. He said that during these troubled times continuation of industry and paying the workers their salary and wages should be considered a national service and government should facilitate us to perform this duty.

He also noted that cash flow in markets is nearly zero and this circulation is the measure resource of a part of our population.

Patron-in-Chief of KATI, S. M. Muneer welcomed the decisions of federal and Sindh governments regarding resumption of industrial and business activities during the extended lockdown as a precautionary measure against Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that KATI fully supported the measures and strategy adopted by Prime Minister Imran Khan who not only apprehended the medical challenges of the situation but also focused on the potential economic disaster of this pandemic. He also lauded the incentives announced by the State Bank of Pakistan to facilitate salaries and wages of the industrial workers.

"However to make these incentives more effective this repayment facility should be interest-free, and the minimum duration for repayments should be extended to four years," he added.