ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: National Traders Alliance on Monday said the government should bailout small traders from economic problems.

“Traders would be left with no option but to commit suicide if left at the mercy of banks and police as they are unable to pay interest up to 35 and 45 per cent, said Vice-President of National Traders Alliance and former senior vice-president of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Malik Sohail Hussain in a meeting held here on Monday.

He said the expansion of banking sector in Pakistan was laudable but it should not be at the cost of depositors. Some banking institutions were fleecing depositors taking undue advantage of the weak regulatory control of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

He was of the view that no new licences should be issued to local or foreign banks, adding that controlling banks and other financial institutions was in the larger interest of millions of account holders of the country.

Other business leaders including Blue Area Traders Association Chairman Malik Sagheer Ahmed, Shahid Alam, Syed Amin Pirzada, Chaudhry Mohammad Naeem and Yusuf Rajput said banks were depriving masses of their due profits of Rs100 billion per annum for the last seven years and the trend continued unabated. —Our Reporter