LAHORE: The government’s decision to close the businesses, markets and activities by 6:00 p.m. will hurt the already dwindling economy extensively.
The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) urged the government to review its decision of closing markets by 6:00 p.m. and suggested closing of retail markets till 8:00 p.m. The business community understands the severity of the situation and is ready to cooperate with the government to contain the pandemic by following the SOPs, but shutting the businesses will not help the country in anyway, said LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah on Monday.
The corona virus pandemic has resulted in a tragically large number of human lives being lost and has also impacted the world economy like no other disaster. As the cases surge, the governments across the globe are implementing necessary quarantines and social distancing practices and putting lockdowns, he said. The extent and speed of collapse in activity and businesses that has followed is unlike anything experienced in our lifetimes, he added.
This is a crisis like no other, they said, and there is substantial uncertainty about its impact on people’s lives and the businesses.
A lot of depends on the decisions of the government from now on, he said, adding that the government has closed the markets on Eid last year which were resulted in loss of billions of rupees for the business community.
The people have invested so much for the upcoming Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr season and the recent lockdown will be proven lethal if the government doesn’t changes its decision of closing the markets at 6:00 PM, the LCCI chief said, adding that the commencing of the vaccination in the country has also gave hope to finally getting rid of the pandemic.
The Lahore Chamber urged the government to let the businesses operate with strict implementation of SOPs rather than closing them which will hurt the economic situation of the country. It has already been noted that the projected growth rate will fall to under 2 percent. This makes the lockdown more severe for the economic growth of the country, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021