LAHORE - Business community leaders have urged the government to lift ban on shops closure till 8 pm and allow them to do business till late at night during the holy month of Ramazan. In a joint statement issued here Friday, the LCCI President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, SAARC Chamber of Commerce Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik, former LCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar and President All Pakistan Anju-man-e-Tajiran Haji Maqsood Ahmad Butt said that if the trading community is allowed to do business late at night during the holy month of Ramazan, it would not only be a great compensation to the already recession-hit business community but would be a big favour to the masses who would be able to make their purchases even after Taraveeh prayers. It is a matter of one month only. Allowing them to continue business late at night would not only be a nice Ramazan package for the trading community but it would also ensure some relief to the workers attached with big shopping malls as they would be working extra hours earning some more bucks for their families. The business community leaders said that if the ban on shops closure is not lifted, it is not only the economic growth that would be suffering a big blow but it would also hit the manufacturing badly. The decision regarding early closure of shops has almost chocked the whole industrial process. They said the decision of early closure of shopping malls and shops had a direct impact on the trade and industry. They said that as far as the electricity consumption is concerned, the government could ask the trading community to open their shop a little late in the morning. It is a common phenomenon in Pakistan that in the holy month of Ramazan families go out for shopping late at night because during the day most of the population observes fast and making purchases while fasting has always been very difficult. They said that the shoppers are left with only one hour between Iftar and Taraveeh and it is not possible to make shopping in one hour even if the shopping mall is very near to ones house. The LCCI President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry had already written letters to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister seeking extension in opening hours for shopping malls. He expressed the hope that both the PM and the chief minister would give a sympathetic consideration to the LCCI plea in the larger interests of the economy of the country.