LAHORE, April 1: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani to convene an emergent session of the federal cabinet to review the second quarterly report of the State Bank of Pakistan giving an alarming picture of the economy.

Chamber President Muhammad Ali Mian said the SBP report had exposed the weakness of the economic policies of the previous government which, instead of taking long term measures for the development of the large scale manufacturing sector and small and medium enterprises, opted for adhocism and kept the people in dark.

Most of the exports, he said, had remained confined to the US, the UK and a few other countries because the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) failed to explore new markets.

The situation could also have been different if the TDAP had issued guidelines to the exports through chambers of commerce and industry and trade associations.

He said the growth of large-scale manufacturing had fallen to 4.5 per cent during July-December last year as compared to previous six-month growth of 8.3 per cent.

This was alarming, especially in the textile sector exports growth which recorded a fall of 3.4 per cent during the period. The textile sector earned over 60 per cent of entire export earnings of the country.

The chamber president said trade deficit situation was expected to worsen next year because the previous government provided bank guarantees to the oil companies instead of making payments. The hidden spending would appear as fiscal deficit next year.

He said the SBP report had attributed the slow economic growth to the domestic energy crisis. Mr Gilani’s plan to generate 2,200 megawatt electricity and energy conservation and austerity drive could give a lease of life to the economy if implemented in letter and spirit.