Govt urged to announce relief package for SMEs

• He urged the government to announce urgent relief package for them to save these businesses from complete collapse.
• Relief package should also defer bank loans with interest of SMEs for next six months so that these businesses could be able to revive business activities.
• He said that the issue of IPPs was a very complicated one and urged the government to make sure to settle this issue through dialogue with them.

ISLAMABAD: President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Muhammad Ahmed Waheed Tuesday said that due to lockdown triggered by Covid-19 pandemic, the business of SMEs had suffered massive losses.

He urged the government to announce urgent relief package for them to save these businesses from complete collapse.

He said that SMEs were closed for the last over one month, but government had not announced any relief package for them so far due to which business community of this sector was feeling insecure.

Muhammad Ahmed Waheed said that under the relief package, the government should defer commercial utility bills of SMEs and allow them to pay these bills in equal instalments.

He said that relief package should also defer bank loans with interest of SMEs for next six months so that these businesses could be able to revive business activities.

He further urged the government to also defer or withdraw MDI charges from the electricity bills of SMEs for the time period these businesses remained closed.

He said that steel industry was operating in KPK, but was not allowed to open in Islamabad which was discriminatory and stressed that this imbalance should be removed.

The ICCI president said that the findings of inquiry commission report on IPPs had revealed great irregularities due to which the economy suffered huge losses.

He emphasized that government to order for forensic audit of IPPs and if any recovery was made from them, its amount should be adjusted in the bills of commercial and domestic consumers to provide them relief.

He said that the issue of IPPs was a very complicated one and urged the government to make sure to settle this issue through dialogue with them.

He said that profits of IPPs should be paid in rupee instead of dollar.

He said that circular debt of the country had exceeded Rs 1.9 trillion, which was posing many dangers to the economy. He urged that government to settle this debt on permanent basis that would reduce the energy cost leading to multiple benefits for the economy including generation of cheap energy, lower cost of doing business, investment promotion, better growth of business and industrial activities and creation of more jobs in the country.