He said that decrease of 50-basis point will not be much beneficial and urged to drastically cut down the discount rate to the level of 6 to 7 percent enabling the business community for level playing field with the competitors in the region.
The deteriorating law-and-order situation, energy crisis and exorbitant increase in the POL prices have already slowed down the pace of industrial and commercial activities as well as the economy while the high discount rates have also brought an upshot and increase in the cost of doing business. The tightened monetary policy has also impeded the progress of private sector with adverse affects on the economy. Due to increased discount rates, the non-performing loans of banks are also increasing; therefore, the state of affairs demand government to take notice of the facts before taking decisions.-PR