Alarm raised over dying industry

KARACHI: Business community has urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take serious notice of closure of industries and necessary remedial steps in order to avoid further deterioration of socioeconomic conditions of in Pakistan, a statement said on Tuesday.

These reservations were expressed by the top officials of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) in a joint statement.

“Reducing working shifts from three to one and laying off about 2,000 workers by the auto assemblers, resulting in a massive 60 percent fall in output, is highly regrettable,” said Mian Anjum Nisar, president FPCCI in a handout issued by the apex chamber. “This will further aggravate the worsening economic conditions and create serious social unrest.”

Nisar underscored the need to reduce markup rates in line with regional countries, provide basic amenities like water, power, and gas at reasonable rates and create business-friendly policies so that industrialists could focus their attention on increasing productivity and meeting export targets.

profit drops to $13.3 billion

Hong Kong: HSBC on Tuesday announced further cost-cutting and restructuring pains after profits slid by a third last year and as its interim chief warned the global banking giant was still "not delivering acceptable returns".

The Asia-focused lender has been trying to lower costs as it faces a multitude of uncertainties caused by the grinding US-China trade war, Britain´s departure from the European Union and now the deadly new coronavirus in China.

While its Asia business has done well in recent years -- fuelled primarily by China -- its businesses in Europe and the United States have disappointed.