Exports, Imports: ‘Reward, regulation system necessary’

KARACHI: The government needs to distinguish between those earning foreign currency and those spending it and set a system of reward and regulations accordingly, said Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) President Zulfikar Thaver. Those earning must be rewarded through bonuses and incentives and the ones spending must be made to pay a higher rate except importers for essential goods, raw materials and machinery. The exporters are in doldrums due to lower rupee proceeds and need support rate of exchange to meet global competition. Imports of raw material, commodities and machinery have become cheaper but until the importers have old stocks they will not reduce the prices, he remarked. While the rupee gaining strength is a healthy sign, the policymakers need to take positive steps as economists, and not behave like accountants. The business community expects a friendly budget which is well aligned with trade, industrial and monetary policies to stimulate the economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2014.

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