LAHORE: PML-N President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif says businessmen and traders have been hit hard by Covid-19, however, urged them to play a role in helping the labourers and daily-wage workers survive these tough times.

Holding a meeting with the members of the business community of the country through a video link here on Thursday, Shahbaz discussed with them the state of the affairs in the wake of the virus outbreak and received their suggestions on how to deal with the situation.

The Islamabad and Punjab chambers of commerce and industry lauded his initiative of gathering one of the hardest hit sections at this crucial moment.

Talking to the businessmen, Shahbaz said it was the vision of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and the principle of the party that there was no room for politics over the pandemic. He said he was aware of and concerned at the large scale impact of the restrictive measures and the virus had had on the business community but the containment of the spread of the disease was unavoidable. The PML-N had sought to put together a charter of demands by the business community in the light of the meeting.

Despite extremely difficult circumstances, Shahbaz said, the PML-N had boosted the growth rate to 5.8pc, brought inflation down to three per cent and kept the policy rate at six per cent. He said through effective planning and foresight Pakistan could prepare to meet the challenges in this fight against global pandemic. He said he had repeatedly told the government to lower the policy rate further and bring down petrol prices to Rs70 per litre; otherwise, the exports could be cut by as much as 50pc.

Meanwhile, PML-N Punjab information secretary Azma Bokhari has criticised the government for sacking sanitary workers after paying them salary for half month. Ahead of Easter, this step was cruel and the chief minister must restore them to their job, she demanded.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2020