Economic situation improving: Rehman

Says retail sector employs around 14% of the total workforce

LAHORE:

Despite multiple challenges on the economic front, the government is making an all-out effort to strengthen the economy said Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman.

While speaking during the “Second Pakistan Future of Retail Business Summit and Expo 2022”, Rehman said that the economic situation in the country has started to improve due to the efforts being made by the government.

“The retail sector is playing an important role in the country’s economy,” he said, adding that it employs around 14% of the total workforce.

Chainstore Association of Pakistan (CAP) Chairman Rana Tariq Mehboob said the summit has extended many new avenues for the organised retail sector in Pakistan.

Mehboob claimed the retail sector is well organised and contributed Rs58 billion, amounting to 18% of the total GDP, with 14% national employment generation.

“The formalisation and development of the retail ecosystem is the way forward,” he said.

“Smuggling and poor tax culture has deprived the sector of competitiveness and simultaneously hit a huge spectrum of the economy, he said, suggesting that promptly plugging those loopholes would help in saving millions for the national exchequer.

“Every sector deserves a level playing field and regulatory rationalisation. If the government formalises the economy, it will have to transform the retail sector in collaboration with the private sector,” he said.