Daily Times

KARACHI: The Lasbela Chamber of Commerce & Industry has expressed concerns over the ever increasing prices of utilities and other industrial inputs due to which the industrial sector particularly the export-oriented manufacturing units were suffering badly.

The chamber’s president Yakoob Karim said that it seemed the new government was not aware of this issue and is on the same lines as that of previous regimes that have brought the economy to verge of collapse.

Yakoob Karim said that most of the decisions taken so far regarding the economy seemed as a self-defeat of the new government and is against the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. While endorsing views of trade bodies and apex chamber, he said that the prime minister had been assuring businesses of ‘ease of doing business’, for promoting industrialisation in the country. But unfortunately, price hike of gas and electricity negated his commitments.

Opposing a 2 percent hike in per unit price of electricity and a steep rise in gas tariff would increase production cost and as a result, Pakistani products would not be able to compete on the world market.

He said that exporters too are much concerned over the unfavourable stance towards the economy and said that Pakistani products are already uncompetitive in the world market and this fresh hike in fuel prices would prove to be the last straw on the camel’s back.

He further said that manufacturing concerns and export-oriented industries would be main victims of this decision as they have to compete with products of regional countries in international market.

He reminded of the commitment made by Finance Minister Asad Umar who had claimed that petroleum prices would be brought down to about Rs 45 per litre soon after he takes over but as a matter of fact he just “made a fool out of the nation”.

Published in Daily Times, September 14^th 2018.