ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Saturday demanded of the government to make further cut in interest rate and bring it down to 5 percent.

The ICCI president Muhammad Ahmed Waheed in a statement said in the prevailing circumstances, a low policy interest rate was the key requirement for reviving the business activities and turning around the downward slide of economy.

He said at a time when business and industry were struggling for survival due to Covid-19 pandemic, high interest rate in Pakistan was a major hurdle in new investment and expansion of existing businesses. He said that to combat the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have made drastic cut in policy interest rates in order to mitigate the woes of businesses.

He said policy interest rate in Malaysia and Indonesia was currently 4.50 percent, India 4.40 percent, China 3.85 percent, South Korea and Thailand 0.75 percent, Japan -0.10 percent and the US and Euro Zone zero percent, but interest rate in Pakistan was still on higher side that should be reduced to minimum 5 percent. It would alleviate the difficulties of business sector and help in revival of economic activity.