Business community urges govt to help SMEs overcome challenges

LAHORE: Business community has sought immediate government intervention for resolving the issues faced by small and medium enterprises and cottage industry.

Chairing a meeting, Khadim Hussain, member board of director of the Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), Punjab has said that continuing businesses in prevailing circumstances has become really an uphill task for the cash strapped enterprises.

“Instead of taking measures to enable enterprises to continue businesses amid global economic meltdown, the government is multiplying the miseries by taking uncalled for decisions like hike in the interest rate.

The businesses are already under enormous stress due to high input cost, restrictions on import of raw material and high inflation. Taking interest rate to historic high level of 21 percent will make it really tough for the cash strapped enterprises to manage even day to day affairs.

Large number of industries have already closed down due high cost of doing business in the wake of increase in energy cost, salaries of workforce and less demand of products owing to reduced buying capacity of inflation hit consumers,” he said, adding that the government should come forward and devise a doable strategy for saving the economy and the businesses after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

Hussain, who is also chief executive officer of Hussain Trading Company, has stressed the need of downward revision of interest rate and bringing it at par with the regional countries like India, China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to bring borrowing cost in the reach of small enterprises.

He said that measures like increase in mark-up have failed to control inflation in the past and the same would happen this time around.

“Inflation is on the rise for the last one year despite gradual increase in the interest rate. There is a need of looking for other measures to check inflation. Interest rate should be decreased for enabling businesses to play their due role in reviving the economy and putting it on the path of sustainable growth,” he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023