Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Leader of the business community and former President ICCI Shahid Rasheed Butt on Saturday lauded the decision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to revive the economy.
The COVID-19 will affect the economy for months, maybe years, but reopening businesses cannot wait until the virus is completely eradicated but there should be no compromise on precautionary measures, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that restarting businesses are not only important for the social well-being but also for restoring investor confidence in the market and generating much-needed tax revenue.
He said that government departments should not delay buying wheat from farmers otherwise it can result in another crisis which will be difficult for masses who have seen massive erosion in their buying power.
The business leader noted that wheat production has been projected to be 25 million tonnes while wheat purchase target was set at 8.25 million tonnes but so far only 48 percent wheat has been purchased which is hurting the growers.
He said that the government should not delay helping the cotton growers who are facing a serious financial crunch due to non-payments.
There are no buyers for the cotton due to slump, textile millers are not paying dues to ginners and ginners are unable to pay for cotton purchased from growers.
The issue can be resolved if the government buy the unsold stock of cotton through TCP otherwise the textile millers would delay the purchase until they get it on throwaway prices which will make life difficult for planters, he warned.
Government intervention is necessary to save the cotton economy which is behind sixty percent exports and catering for millions of households, Shahid Rasheed said, adding that the government should take steps to arrest the continued increase in the price of pulses and take action against poultry mafia for jacking up prices by creating an artificial shortage in the market.
He also demanded to reopen Pak-Afghan border and Khunjerab Pass to allow thousands of containers loaded with merchandise to cross into Pakistan.
