FCCI concerned at economic crisis due to prolonged lockdown

FAISALABAD: The Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) has expressed concern over the economic crisis due to the prolonged lockdown in the country.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, FCCI president Rana Sikandar Azam Khan demanded the government must finalise SOPs for comprehensive precautionary measures to be adopted by traders to restart their business activities from April 14. "However, if immediate decision was not taken, the starvation will overshadow the threats of corona virus", he warned and added that this situation might force unemployed daily wagers to indulge in loot and plunder.

He said that the corona-related lockdown was started from March 24 and during the last 13 days, the government had taken commendable measures to contain the pandemic but without considering its side effects on our social and economic lives. He told that in addition to the daily wagers, the white collar trading class was also now feeling the heat of the continuous lockdown. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced Rs 1,200 billion stimulus package out of which Rs 150 billion were earmarked for the poverty-stricken daily wagers.

He said that immediately after the lockdown, the business and industrial community had started their philanthropic activities and ration was provided to the unemployed daily wagers while the industrialists had also announced to give full pay to their employees.

He told that the situation had now entirely changed during the last two weeks and the traders were facing severe liquidity crunch. He said that many traders had rented premises and their landlords were demanding rent while they needed money to fulfill their own family needs in addition to paying the utility bills.

He added that despite lofty claims of the government, no practical assistance had yet been provided to the needy segments. He explained the miseries of different business sectors and told that poultry meat was available at Rs 100/kg due to the lack of market demand and each poultry farmer had so far suffered loss to the tune of Rs 4-5 million. The FCCI president said that the poultry farmers were forced to release new crop of chicks in the open fields as they were unable to feed them. "This situation will result in acute shortage of poultry meat in the coming months and it will not be available at Rs 500/kg if the current situation continued", he said and added that other segments were also facing similar problems while the SME sector and cottage industry was forced to start layoff, rendering majority of workers jobless.

Regarding refunds to the exporters, he said that the government had claimed to pay them Rs 100 billion. He clarified that this was refund amount as the government had paid only Rs 100 billion out of Rs 250 billion collected from them. He said that the government had not made any special favour as it was their own hard-earned money out of which a small portion had been paid to them.

He demanded that the lockdown should not be further extended as it would trigger a new kind of social and economic crisis in the country. He also demanded that the government should defer collection of utility bills for the next three months. Similarly, the consumers with 300 units of electricity or gas users with billed amount up to Rs 1,000 might be totally exempted from payment for the months of March, April and May, he added.

He added that the government had allowed the industrial units to start their operation after taking necessary precautionary and safety measures. "Similarly, the traders should also be allowed to open their businesses under the well thought out SOPs", he added. He said that the FCCI would not support anybody who would violate the SOPs and their shops might be sealed forthwith as we had to fight against corona as well as unemployment at the same time.

Responding to a question, the FCCI president said that the traders would not open their shops without positive response from the government but the government should also realise their genuine problems.

Expressing complete solidarity with the protesting doctors of Quetta, he said that they were justified in demanding personal protective equipments (PPEs) while performing their duties.