61pc traders consider business environment suitable: survey

ISLAMABAD: According to a latest survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan, 61 percent traders in Pakistan consider the environment for business suitable, while 39 percent traders consider the situation unfavourable.

The survey, which sought responses from more than 400 businesses from different sectors, was published by Gallup in its fourth quarter report of Gallup Pakistan's Business Confidence Index.

Among those traders who consider the atmosphere good for trade, 68 percent believe conditions are good in manufacturing sector, 58 percent consider conditions good in services sector, and 52 percent in trade sector. The percentage of traders considering the conditions good is highest in Sindh (69 percent) followed by 66 percent each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and 60 percent in Punjab.

72 percent respondents in the survey expressed hope for betterment in conditions for trade in future, while 28 percent respondents were not so hopeful in this regard. Trade sector remained on top in good hope section with 84 percent response, followed by services sector with 73 percent and manufacturing sector with 72 percent. Again, the percentage of those who considered the situation improving in future was highest in Sindh (83 percent), followed by Punjab with 70 percent, and KP and Balochistan with 67 percent.

The survey shows that 53 percent respondent respondents believe the country is headed in right direction, while 47 percent believe otherwise. In Sindh, 72 percent traders said the country is headed in right direction, 50 percent traders say so in KP and Balochistan, and the ratio is 48 percent in Punjab.