President Friends of Economic and Business Reforms (FEBR), Kashif Anwar has said that low-cost energy is vital for trade and industry to bring down their cost of production, keeping their goods competitive in the international market.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Kashif Anwar, the former LCCI vice president, said that the government would have to reduce the price of electricity along with the cut in the prices of petroleum products to bring down the cost of doing business and to promote industrial activities.
He said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business activities were already in decline and in this situation the government should take serious steps to cut the cost of doing business, as continued hike in oil rates would further enhance the cost of production, making transport more expensive.
The President FEBR said that the economy of Pakistan, particularly the SMEs are striving to deal with the post-corona economic crunch and need to get support. Instead of providing subsidies or waivers, it is unjust to overburden the industries with hike in cost of production. An increase in petroleum products costs will further weaken the economic environment which is already under threat on various fronts.
He observed that the burden of the surge in oil price in the international market is immediately transferred to masses by the government but the process of reduction in the prices is always very slow, he noted.
