Amraiz Khan
Panelists of a discussion are of eh view that immediate and foremost focus should be on rapid development of health care infrastructure to respond COVID19 maintain economic order during the lockdown period.
They further said that key sectors should be prioritize and support them to expedite economic revival. Effectively use the stimulus package announced to the tune of US$8 billion as a combination of cash support for the most vulnerable families and businesses. They expressed these views during a panel discussion organized by Corporate Pakistan Group (CPG) under the title of “COVID-19 Impact on Pakistan’s Economy & Way Forward”. Over 15,000 people virtually joined the event across the globe. Panelist included M. Hammad Azhar, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Industries, Maheen Rahman, CEO, Alfalah GHP Investment Management, Shazad Dada, President, OICCI, and CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, Dr Amjad Waheed, CEO, NBP Funds, Muzammil Aslam, CEO, MAFA Capital Khurram Schehzad, Economic Analyst & CEO, Alpha Beta Core and Sajjeed Aslam (as moderator), Head of ACCA Pakistan. Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Founder of CPG opened the conversation and Rizwan Tiwana, CEO Agronomy acted as convener.
They were of the opinion that it was unprecedented time and almost impossible to understand the overall impact at this time.
They recommended to create further fiscal space and liquidity through local policy interventions and support from international institutions.
Panelists were also of the view that Capital market witnessed risk-averse approach in general sector significantly impacted include tourism, manufacturing, oil and gas, aviation, financial services, transportation and its allied businesses.
They said that lockdown could cause loss of income for SMEs (especially wholesale & retail sectors) and daily wagers. Temporary and permanent loss of export orders, Overall economic loss is estimated between of US$7 billion to US$15 billion in (April – June 2020), Liquidity is an utmost challenge for the formal and informal sectors across all the business segments, Some of the businesses and jobs may not exist post COVID19 era.
Panelists recognized the following positive impact: Sectors will gain significantly include health care, IT and IT-enabled businesses, telecom, food processing, allied services, The current account balance is expected to improve by US$1 billion – US$1.5 billion Major banks in Pakistan are adequately capitalized and can provide required liquidity, the government is willing to support hard-hit sectors if required through government guarantees. The stimulus package announced to support the most venerable families and businesses.
Generate liquidity in the economy – through low-interest rate, relaxed policies for collateral and deferral of mandatory payments (taxes, utilities etc) Rapid digitization of the businesses and economy – incentive may be only available for businesses who comply with the minimum documentation requirements Prioritise the restoration of export-led businesses and agriculture sector and agri related supply chain.
Another virtual panel discussion titled the “Business Continuity During COVID-19” was also arranged. Panelists included Irfan Wahab Khan, EVP Head of Emerging Asia, and CEO, Telenor Group Pakistan, Dr. Zeelaf B. Munir, Managing Director, English Biscuit Manufacturers, Ghias Khan, President, Engro Corporation Limited, Farrukh Khan, Managing Director and CEO, Pakistan Stock Exchange and Almas Hyder, Chairman, Engineering Development Board. The session was moderated by Syed Veqar Ul Islam, CEO, Jaffer Business Systems, and Member Policy Board, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Founder of CORPORATE PAKISTAN GROUP, opened the conversation.
Ghazanfer Ali, Country General Manager IBM Pakistan & Afghanistan moderated audience questions. These are unprecedented times and conventional wisdom is failing. It has three prominent characteristics; the first pace and quantum of change are enormous and no one was prepared for that, second unpredictability of timeframe when it would end, and third, there is no playbook or best practices available to refer to. Business leaders highlighted the following immediate measures to start tackling the situation in hand and expand the scope of interventions based on further learning on the go.
