Secretary-General of the Businessmen Panel (BMP), Ahmad Jawad, has said trade bodies must alert the economic managers on the rising cost of dollar "as with devaluation, there is inflation. When there is inflation, your disposable income vanishes, which affects consumption behaviour and purchasing power".
He said that there was a decline in aggregate demand, which was why there was an economic slowdown, and it would continue.
He said the COVID-19 curve in Pakistan was rising with every passing day. The country was under a partial lockdown. Businesses are operating at less than half of their normal capacity because of the shortage of raw material, shortage of labor or restrictions on the movement of the people imposed by the provincial governments, which was taking a toll on aggregate demand and supply.
In these abnormal days, the government through the State Bank of Pakistan should halt dollar fluctuations. It is highly shocking that in just three days the dollar rose at more than 8 rupees in interbank with the new rate of Rs168.
He said that the government could neither fix the dollar nor could it cut the interest rate which was a big worry for the businesses.
He said exports in horticulture sector are in pressure too and the closure of kinnoo export was affected due to COVID-19.
Jawad said that one goods news was that this season Pakistani kinnoo were being sold for 19.96 Yuan per kg on the e-commerce platforms in China.
Pakistan's kinnoo has recently attracted Chinese netizens' attention.
There is a huge area of opportunities between Pakistan and China. The government must take advantage of the opportunities and possibilities which were now opening up.