Govt flayed for ignoring SMEs in KP
AMJAD ALI SHAH
PESHAWAR: Business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here on Friday flayed the federal government for ignoring the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as small-scale industries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the financial relief package worth Rs30 billion.
Traders’ leaders, presidents of market associations, office-bearers and others said the federal government did not provide even a single penny from the approved fiscal relief package to the traders and small manufacturers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who had been adversely affected by the prolonged lockdown.
They were speaking at a meeting held here at the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).
In his address on the occasion, SCCI President Engineer Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz said, “KP has always been neglected by all successive governments.”
He reminded the audience that the business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had rendered unmatched sacrifices in the frontline province in war against terrorism and extremism in the past.
Maqsood Pervaiz said that if the corona relief package meant to be only for Punjab and Sindh, it was completely unfair with the KP.
The SCCI chief said that commercial banks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had not been given any instructions about the relief package worth Rs30 billion while the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Peshawar, had expressed its ignorance about it.
The participants observed that corona-related deaths remained high in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and businesses had been adversely affected by the prolonged lockdown in the province.
Maqsood Pervaiz also said that the volume of exports via Torkham border (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) had also decreased amid the Covid-19 crisis, leaving KP exporters with enormous difficulties.
The affected traders demanded of Prime Minister Imran Khan, his adviser on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to give fair share from the corona relief package to the traders and small industries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
