Finance, chemical sectors resilient in challenging times

KARACHI: The finance and chemical sectors indicate some increase in employment and continue to be resilient during the depressed state of the economy.

This was according to the business confidence survey undertaken by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) for the second quarter (April to June). The survey was conducted in June to gauge the business sentiment across all sectors.

Business confidence dropped significantly from six per cent in the first quarter (January to March) to minus 27 per cent in the second quarter, according to the results.

“The business confidence survey results indicate a largely depressed economy and the current political and economic situation, the recent budget and especially the floods and the recent violence in Karachi will only make matters worse,” said the President OICCI, Ameena Saiyid, during the launch of the survey.

The respondents were asked to share their views on business situation in the country, in the city in which they operate, as well as their respective industry.

Key findings of the survey revealed that the main concerns of the business community are inflation 83 per cent, followed by cost of doing business 75 per cent, security situation 72 per cent, government policy 68 per cent, interest rates 64 per cent and availability of banking credit 42 per cent.

Major findings of the confidence survey were that the Budget 2010-11 had not been well perceived across any of the sectors, the business community expects the next six months to be more adverse than the past six months, textile was the most pessimistic sub-sector within the manufacturing segment and there were no plans for large capital investments during the next six months across all sectors.

Over 400 interviews were conducted with representatives from all sectors with significant contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP) in which manufacturing represented 45 per cent, services 30 per cent and retail sector 25 per cent.

Furthermore, the survey found that the transport and communications sector was the most pessimistic within the services segment.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2010.