SITE urges SBP to review 'refinance scheme'

Patron and President respectively of the SITE Association of Industry,

Zubair Motiwala and Suleman Chawla, have urged the Governor of State Bank to review the "Refinance Scheme for Payment of Wages & Salaries to The Workers & Employees of Business Concerns" and said that 90 percent of the investment in the SME sector is done by the businessmen out of their own capital. As such, refinance under this scheme should be provided at zero percent.

Welcoming the further cut of 2 percent in the interest rate by the State Bank of Pakistan and terming it a good sign for the national economy amid worst economic situation due to corona pandemic, they expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Governor State Bank Dr. Reza Baqir for realizing the difficulties of the business community and taking remedial measures by lowering the interest rate to 9 percent.

They said that this move will help and support trade and industry, the stock market and the national economy as a whole because Pakistan's exports have suffered badly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Suleman Chawla, while appreciating the move by the State Bank, said that it was a long outstanding demand of the business community to bring down the interest rate to a single digit for which the government deserved compliments.

There is a need to further cut the interest rate in the larger economic interest of the country as due to the corona pandemic, the industries are lying closed and this move of the government can rightly be termed as a wave of fresh air for the businesses, he said.