PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed concern about the closure of cash counters and insisted the government’s hasty decision made without consulting trade bodies would badly affect Pak-Afghan trade and regional exports.

The issue was discussed during a meeting chaired by SCCI president Sherbaz Bilour and attended by traders, exporters and importers at the Chamber House here on Friday.

The participants included SCCI senior vice-president Engineer Manzoor Elahi and vice- president Junaid Altaf and other businessmen.

They said the government had ordered the immediate abolition of cash counter facility from July 1, 2021, causing unrest among traders, exporters and importers.

Insists govt’s hasty move to affect Pak-Afghan trade

Mr Bilour said the annual Pak-Afghan trade volume was $2.5 billion five years ago but it had come down to less than $600 million and would come to zero if the government kept making policies and taking decisions without consulting stakeholders.

He expressed reservations about the closure of cash counters and alleged that some people in the government were trying to harm the country’s economy and the abolition of that facility was part of such moves.

The SCCI president said the businesses of Punjab in general and those of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular had strong links with those of Afghanistan and Central Asian States but the government’s unilateral policies and decisions were bound to badly affect them.

He said the industrial and trade activities would slow down as a result of such policies and could trigger unemployment and bring negative impacts on the national economy.

Mr Bilour urged the federal government and State Bank of Pakistan to develop a joint mechanism in light of the proposal of the traders and other stakeholders to boost the country’s trade with Afghanistan and enhance its exports to regional states to help stabilise the national economy and create ample employment opportunities for the locals.

He said the abrupt government decision had created unrest and disappointment among traders.

“Such policies and decisions are not in the interest of the business community and national economy, so they should be withdrawn immediately,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2021