President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, while referring to deep concerns being expressed by commercial and industrial importers of raw materials whose LCs were mostly being denied by banks, urged the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Governor State Bank Jameel Ahmed to take strict notice of banks’ denial which was purely against the government’s commitments and assurances given from time to time about smooth issuance of LCs.

In a statement issued, President KCCI pointed out that although some improvement was witnessed, the situation was again heading towards the same disaster as not a single LC was issued by the banks, creating severe crises for the business community. “The government must promptly intervene in this particular issue to save the economy as well as business, particularly the exports, from further plunging into further crises”, he added.

Tariq Yousuf particularly noted that although the Finance Minister issued clear-cut instructions to commercial banks to facilitate export-oriented sectors in opening LCs for raw material, machinery, spare parts and other items so that the industry’s supply line could be restored the banks were not obeying these orders. It seems they have been given free as the SBP was also not taking decisive action against banks even though the number of LC-related complaints has increased with every passing day. Not a single bank was willing to entertain LC cases.

He stressed that the importers of essential items, whether commercial or industrial, should be treated at par because industrial importers cannot import everything by themselves as many things are to be purchased from the market as the inventory or the consumption does not allow them to import everything on their own. “Therefore, the import by commercial importers of raw materials for the industries, particularly the export-oriented industries, is critical, so it should not be stopped at any cost.”

He reiterated that the bank’s denial to issue LCs should be taken as a very urgent matter, and strict directives have to be immediately issued to save industrial production from further deterioration.