ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: Stressing that there was no banking crisis in sight, president Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi has urged the business community and the general public not to go panicky on the basis of “mere rumours”.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said the run on banks for withdrawal of cash badly hurts trade and industry and adversely affects the country’s economy.

The ICCI president said the financial sector in the country was one of the best in the region which, he added, was evident from the sound financial health of the country’s banking reaping phenomenal returns since last few years.

He, however, called upon the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to come up with a clear and comprehensive strategy to counter such rumours and speculations about the banking industry so that the banking sector and the people could know the factual position.

The chamber president urged the government to take urgent steps to improve the macro-economic indicators of the economy and try to narrow down the current account deficit which has caused the rupee slide.

He lauded the SBP initiative to lower the cash reserve requirement for banks from nine per cent to seven per cent and inject $100 million to improve liquidity in the banking sector.

Mr Abbasi appealed to all the stakeholders not to pay heed to rumour mongering by “some unscrupulous elements for achieving their ulterior motives”.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW), an NGO which monitors different aspects of the country’s economy, has alleged some banks were involved in conspiracy to bankrupt Pakistan.

It demanded the government to appoint powerful auditors in the banks to look after their affairs.

The efforts to bailout the economy will not succeed until the government takes the affairs into its own hands and giving a freehand to banks and financial institutions is like helping them in hatching conspiracies, a statement issued by the NGO said.