LAHORE – Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Ijaz A Mumtaz has demanded that the SBP should bring down discount rate at least by 2 percent from 9.5 percent in the upcoming monetary policy.
He said that though State Bank of Pakistan did right moves by bringing down the discount rate in the last monetary policy but that was not enough to give a breathing space to the industrial sector.
He that a notable cut of at least 2 percent in the discount rate by the State Bank of Pakistan would inject fresh blood to the industrial sector which was facing a number of internal and external challenges.
He said that SBP positive initiative would also make the Pakistani products competitive in the international market as fluctuation in discount rates controls the industrial input cost. He said that this fact should be an eye opener for the policy makers that Japan, Sweden and Switzerland are aiding their industrial sector at 0% discount rate as compared to 9.5 percent in Pakistan.
