Govt urged to curb speculative trading

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh has welcomed the successful completion of first review of the $3 billion standby arrangement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The business community stands by the government to help it surpass the revenue collection target despite all odds and, above all, the unbearable cost of doing business in the wake of the triple whammy of electricity, gas and petroleum prices,” said Sheikh in a statement on Thursday

He emphasised that the government must tighten its regulatory oversight over the speculative dollar trading by commercial banks as the inter-bank market had experienced the depreciation of Pakistani rupee over the last three weeks, except for Thursday.

Read: FPCCI president urges petroleum price cut

He also welcomed the 40% tax on windfall profits of banks earned in the years 2021 and 2022.

The next in line should be facilitating access to finance to the business, trade and industrial community through bringing down the key policy rate of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the resultant rationalisation of Export Finance Scheme (EFS) and Longterm Financing Facility (LTFF), he said.

“We can generate more resources through boosting trade and industry than knocking at the doors of the IMF again in April 2024 after completion of the ongoing nine-month standby arrangement in March.” The FPCCI chief asked why economic team of the government had not yet been able to secure cheaper external financing from other global financial institutions.