KCCI decries 43% hike in minimum wage
The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and other trade organisations on Wednesday rebuffed the 43% increase in minimum wage by the Sindh government, terming it an unconstitutional move with negative consequences.
According to a statement, the KCCI said that the industries of Sindh, particularly of Karachi, were highly perturbed by the Sindh government’s move to increase the minimum wage from Rs17,500 to Rs25,000 without following the due process of law and contrary to provisions of the Sindh Minimum Wage Act 2015 and ILO’s Minimum Wages Fixation Convention 1970.
“It will make industries of Sindh uncompetitive and unviable, not only locally but also globally,” it stated, adding that the minimum wage in the federal capital and Punjab was Rs20,000 and in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan it was Rs21,000.
“Minimum wage was already lower in our competing countries and the wage increase will affect the cost of manufacturing of export industries, making them uncompetitive in the international market. It will also nullify the efforts being made to create import-substituting industries in Pakistan,” it elaborated.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2021.
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