Pakistan's poultry industry demands bailout package

Association official says sector has been hit hard due to prolonged closure

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has once again called for a bailout package from the government in a bid to rescue the poultry industry.

PPA North Zone Chairman Muhammad Fargham said, “The Covid-19 has hit consumption of poultry meat as almost 35-40% poultry farms have been closed while the rest of the sector is facing heavy losses due to prolonged closure of marriage halls and hotel industry.”

“The poultry sector has been facing losses for the past six months due to high cost of production coupled with falling purchasing power of consumers,” said Fargham in a press conference on Saturday. He stressed that the cost of production has increased manifold as the borrowing cost soared and capital financing became more expensive.

As per PPA statistics, the Rs1.1-trillion poultry industry’s size has been reduced to Rs800 billion due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The association said that almost 15% of total poultry meat consumption is from marriage halls, whereas 30% demand comes from hotel and restaurants sector. The rest 55% of meat consumption comes from open domestic market.

The sector has already enjoys the facility under which electricity bills for three months have been paid by the government, which was aimed at supporting small and medium scale businesses during the pandemic. However, the industry is still waiting for a bailout package of Rs4.7 billion, which will delay their bank instalments and mark-up on the loans availed for a period of one year.

Fargham suggested that the government introduce a policy to uplift the businesses hit hard by the Covid-19 besides launching financial programmes for the revival of closed industrial units. “In that regard, the first priority should be given to the food sector, which was vital to ensure food security.”

He said that banks should provide loans according to the central bank’s directives and without the condition of showing past records. He also asked the government to provide loans on lowest mark-up rates to farms and companies.

“Authorities should sanction new loans for farms so that they could continue poultry production activity and also exempt import duty and all taxes on poultry vaccines, medicines, raw material and machinery so that cost of production could be reduced.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2020.

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