The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has termed uncontrolled dollar prices a big blow to the business activities and urged the government to immediately intervene in the matter. LCCI President Almas Hyder said that surge in dollar price will badly affect manufacturing sector as raw material price and cost of doing business will go up. He said that devaluation of rupee will cause high inflation and halt growth by hitting all the important sectors of economy. He said that dollar price will lead to increase in import costs, hike in POL prices.
Almas Hyder said that the government, Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan need to ascertain the factors weakening the value of rupee and check the possibilities of undue speculations and panic buying. This will help stabilize rupee and restore the confidence of the business community, he added.
He said that an unchecked increase in the dollar rates is multiplying the cost of doing business and badly affecting the industrial, manufacturing and agriculture sectors as Pakistan has to import fertilizers, food items, oil, machinery and industrial raw material.
LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir and Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal said that the government should take immediate measures to arrest further devaluation of rupee to avoid more damages to the economy. They said though the weaker rupee benefits the exporters by giving them more rupees per dollar, but this benefit is neutralized by the costly imported inputs of manufacturing sector including textiles thus eroding the financial advantage of a weaker rupee. The LCCI office-bearers said that if the greenback continues its upward flight, it will certainly inflate import bill besides lowering the competitiveness of Pakistan's business and industry.