KARACHI – The country’s traders and industrialists expressed dissatisfaction over a status-quo in the discount rate announced by the State Bank of Pakistan on Saturday.
The Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Patron in-Chief SM Muneer and Chairman Syed Johar Ali Qandhari said that a rising trend of discount rates had mounted non-performing loans (NPLs).
Industrialists said that a reduction in the interest rate was need of the hour. The SBP should look to gradually bring the interest rate down to single digits. They further said that the interest rate was highest in Pakistan, while exporters had been rendered in-competitive in the global market due to massive overheads.
Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum President and FPCCI Standing Committee Chairman Mian Zahid Husain termed the central bank’s decision as anti-industry and anti-economy. He pointed out that the SBP governor had himself admitted that the government could not achieve any monetary goal by increasing discount rate.
However, he had not realised that high bank rates were the driving force behind an increase in the number of defaulters. He stated that several NPLs cases were pending before the courts and a further rise in defaulters was feared.
