Former President of Lasbela Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Maqsood Ismail, while appreciating the steps taken by the newly-appointed Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar, urged for another rate cut in the discount rate to encourage the investment in trade and industry thus to address unemployment and to alleviate the ever-growing poverty in the country.
He was of the opinion that the discount rate is very little to do with the kind of inflation that Pakistan is facing. Most of the local inflation is because of the Petroleum Products and Food Items of which the demand is inelastic and the high rate of interest will not let the demand of these products go down. On the other hand, high rate of interest has virtually stopped the investment by the private sector thus creating unemployment and lowering the rate of GDP.
He added that till the discount rate is not brought under single digit, it is rather impossible to bring viable industrial investment in the country. He further added that under the prevailing world economic scenario where all the central banks are aggressively bringing down their landing rates, Pakistan should also follow the suit.
He urged the State Bank of Pakistan that the need of the hour is to aggressively bring down the discount rate to induce investment and to reduce the unemployment and subsequently to alleviate poverty. He humbly requested the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan and the concerned quarters to continue their efforts to reduce the discount rate in order to bring the country on the path of economic recovery in real terms.-PR