Hafeez briefed about liquidity issues facing large-scale manufacturing

A delegation of Nishat Group met Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to apprise him of the damage done by Covid-related economic downturn to large-scale manufacturers, said a press release issued on Wednesday.
Advisor on Commerce and Minister Industries was also present in the meeting.
Dr Ishrat Husain, finance secretary and chairperson FBR also participated in the meeting.
It was shared by the delegation that owing to Covid-induced demand compression, size of balance sheets of large manufacturers was not maintainable.
The major contributory factor is massive labour cost especially in labor intensive industries such as garments sector.
Any arrangements of avoiding permanent laying off or furloughs are putting excessive strains on the liquidity position of businesses, which are anticipating slow economic recovery, hence hedging against potential solvency issues.
The delegation head stressed on enhanced role by the government to ease liquidity position of large businesses.
The need for crafting scheme for cost sharing between public and private sectors was stressed.
The adviser finance empathized with the participants and updated them about the current status of implementation of PM stimulus package worth Rs1,240 billion.
The delegation was asked to put up precise case for financial facilitation and its parameters as the SBP has already been running a scheme for payroll protection.
The Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce desired for working out impact of reversion of orders by the US, from China to other countries, and its potential impact for manufacturers in Pakistan.
The minister industries requested the delegation to provide details of proposal in terms of cost sharing arrangements along with details about requirements of various sectors, so that the government could ensure balanced treatment to all key contributors to the GDP.
The adviser finance concluded the meeting with the understanding that specific proposal be crafted regarding up-scaling of existing scheme of the SBP as too many interventions carry the risk of diluting the impact.-PR