KARACHI:President, Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Mian Zahid Hussain, said in a statement on Monday that the second wave of coronavirus could be more dangerous for the masses and the economy.
“The government and the central bank should take steps to save masses and the economy from the impact of the virus. Banks and some other businesses remained profitable during the first wave of coronavirus but the second wave may erode the profitability of many sectors which has raised concerns,” he said while talking to the business community.
The veteran business leader said that the second wave could increase the number of defaults closing down businesses and leaving people unemployed. “It can also have a negative impact on investment and expansion plans as the ration of defaults jumped over one percent during the first wave.”
Hussain said that during the first wave of virus, banks extended repayment period for loans worth Rs 650 billion while rescheduled Rs 184 billion of loans; otherwise, the ratio of defaults could have been higher.
He said the business community had been offered a break up to December 2020 but now it must be extended as the second wave was not expected at the time of the decision to provide relief to the reeling businesses. He said that our major export markets, including the US, EU and the Middle East, were still facing the pandemic which could hit exports for which planning was needed.