Interest rate, inflation to decline from Feb: President Arif Alvi

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Tuesday said that business community was playing key role in the economic development of the country, but was presently facing high interest rate.

He said that due to positive measures of the government, interest rate and inflation would hopefully start coming down from February 2020. He said the current economic difficulties were the result of past wrongs and FATF issue, but added that things would start improving soon as the government was working hard for this purpose. He said the improved purchasing power of people led to better growth of business activities and reducing inflation was the key focus on the government.

The president said this while addressing All Pakistan Chambers Presidents Conclave 2020 (APCPC 2020) organised by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) as chief guest.

Arif Alvi said that China achieved better economic growth by providing easy financing to SMEs, and added that current government was focusing on providing easy access to finance SMEs. He said that population-wise, Pakistan was the sixth largest country in the world making it a potential market for investors due to which investors of Japan and many other countries were taking keen interest in Pakistan. He said that chambers of commerce should encourage maximum women entrepreneurs so that they could play more effective role in economic development of country. He lauded the initiative of ICCI for organising APCPC 2020 and said that such events should continue as they promote dialogue between government and private sector.

In his welcome remarks, Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), said the purpose of organising APCPC 2020 was to bring the leadership of entire business community at one platform to discuss their major issues and give consensus proposals to the government for redress of highlighted issues. He stressed that government should give due consideration to the proposals and recommendations that would come out of APCPC 2020. Ahmed Waheed said the business community of entire country wanted to support the government in its efforts for reviving economy. He urged that government should formulate economic policies in consultation with business leaders of the country.