KARACHI:Acting Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Dr. Murtaza Syed with two Deputy Governor’s visited Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry here and discussed the urgent fiscal and monetary policy measures needed to help stabilize the country’s economy.
Deputy Governors Dr. Inayat Hussain and Ms.Sima Kamil also responded to queries from the top business hierarchy, said OICCI statement on Tuesday.
President OICCI Ghias Khan and its Secretary General Abdul Aleem led the discussions and raised concerns of the members relating to the pre-approval procedure of LCs for import of machinery and spare parts, timely remittance payments, approval exemptions of shipping values being too low, and other operational issues.
They emphasized that SBP leadership to set timelines so that industry supply chain was not compromised.
The SBP team gave a comprehensive overview of the current economic situation and the planned strategy to tackle issues in 2023. Pakistan was primarily a consumer-driven economy with consumption driving up to 95% of GDP, they said.
The SBP team was confident that Pakistan’s problems were temporary and urged the OICCI members to work on improving exports to help balance the exchange rate fluctuations and currency depreciation.
Ghias Khan said , this meeting was a much needed as the first step towards the recovery of Pakistan’s economy.
” It was imperative that we implement cogent measures to halt our pattern of circular debt.”
SBP had always played a critical role in stabilizing Pakistan’s economy, and he was confident that under Dr. Murtaza Syed’s leadership we would be able to withstand the current economic climate, besides charting a path for growth.
SBP’s Acting Governor Dr. Murtaza Syed said SBP was taking tough measures and making difficult decisions to help avert the economic crisis. Global inflationary pressures coupled with a procyclical expansionary fiscal policy during a pro-cyclical period was one of the main reasons Pakistan was at this crossroads today.
Once these measures were implemented and the IMF loan was received, the pressures on the economy would ease, specifically on the depreciating Rupee.
OICCI serves as a platform to promote foreign investments and plays a major role in the growth of commerce and industry in the country. Collectively, OICCI invested USD 2.4 billion last year, contributing one-third of the country’s total tax collection, said the statement.