FPCCI concerns over the high policy rate maintained by SBP.

Islamabad -- Mian Anjum Nisar, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), expressed serious concern over the SBP unchanged policy ate which is at the highest in the region and in this state of monetary economy industry cannot survive and to compete in the international market is absolutely impossible. Policy rate in India is 5.15 percent, China 4.35 percent, Sri Lanka 8.0 percent, Malaysia 3.0 percent, Thailand 1.25 percent, and Indonesia 6.5 percent while policy rate in Pakistan is 13.25 percent.

Economists have consensus on the use of expansionary monetary policy in the state of low economic growth and reduction in GDP to control over the damaging effects of low growth on employment and investment.

President FPCCI said that the State Bank of Pakistan is continuously following contractionary monetary policy and kept the policy rate at 13.25 percent while on the other side the government is not providing input material to the industry such as energy at an affordable level. Industry is also facing high cost of doing business in Pakistan due to infrastructure and policy bottlenecks. Continued...