In the second half of April, the government had announced a holiday of two days in a week. Now, the government has announced the withdrawal of the decision from November 27 onwards. The earlier decision was taken in a bid to conserve energy in the wake of acute shortage of electricity.
Later, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also announced its decision to keep all banks in the country closed on Saturdays and Sundays, which irked businessmen and industrialists.
Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (Kati) Chairman Johar Ali Qandhari said that the decision is very positive for the industry of the country. “Considering the fragile business atmosphere, it is safe to say that two-day holiday was a luxury,” said Qandhari.
“We opposed this because it was hurting business activity and the government was losing taxes worth billions of rupees,” he said. “Traders were the worst affected [from the earlier decision] because Friday was already a half-day for most traders who opened shops after Friday prayers,” added Siddiq Memon, chairman of the Traders Action Committee.
He said that banks are necessary business partners since traders and shopkeepers cannot operate on a cash basis because of law and order issues. “We have decided to keep all our markets and shopping malls open everyday from January onwards,” he informed.
Razzak Hashim Paracha, an industrialist, said, “One can easily discover the negative effects on business activity [due to the earlier decision] if business activity at ports over the last six months is evaluated.” Meanwhile, a banker, on condition of anonymity, said that he does not think the decision will make any difference in banking earnings, explaining that Saturdays were already half-days for banks.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2010.
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