ISLAMABAD    -    The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has called upon the government to focus on introducing low cost credit schemes for the domestic industry to improve its productivity, attract new investment and promote exports. In a joint statement issued here on Tuesday, President ICCI Ahmed Hassan Moughal and Senior Vice President Rafat Farid said that Pakistan has been depending on foreign loans to run its economy and stressed that government must work on some policies to improve domestic productivity and attract new investment by providing low cost financing to businesses.

They said that at present the interest rates were so high that no businessman or investor was ready undertake new business ventures and the best way to cope with this problem was to come up with low cost financing schemes for business and industry.

Ahmed Hassan Moughal said that many business groups were working on projects to expand their existing production capacities, set up new industrial units and upgrade technology, but they have put such projects on hold due to exorbitant hike in the cost of capital investment amid massive currency devaluation and sharp rise in SBP’s interest rates.

He said that to reverse this trend, government in collaboration with SBP should work out some new schemes to offer long-term finance at 5-6 percent interest rate for the purchase of industrial machinery and equipment.

The President ICCI emphasized that government should facilitate certain priority sectors including engineering, food processing, information technology and others where Pakistan has strong potential to increase exports. He said that low interest rates were the key requirement to trigger fresh investment in industrial projects and boost exports.

He said that government should also focus on creating new industrial zones in Islamabad and in other major cities to facilitate the development of new industrial estates. Many potential investors have the capital to set up industrial units, but they were unable to find land at suitable price, he added.

Ahmed Hassan Moughal said that the government should establish new industrial zones in every city with a population of one million people that will help create jobs for the local population and slow down pressure on larger cities and towns. The government`s economic stabilization policies and sharp reduction in the purchasing power of people have put many industries in difficult situation and urged that government should devise a scheme to help industrialists reschedule their bank loans, he added.