Traders for continuing businesses, sports simultaneously
China extends halt of interbank market
China's central bank on Wednesday said it will extend the closure of the interbank market and trading and clearing will be resumed on Feb. 3, as China has prolonged the Spring Festival holiday to contain the novel coronavirus epidemic.
It will involve the interbank lending market, interbank bond market, interbank foreign exchange market, gold market and bill market, said the People's Bank of China.
Considering the large scale of funds due after the opening of the market on Feb. 3, the central bank said it will use monetary policy tools such as open market operations to release sufficient liquidity to maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity in the banking system.
The seven-day Spring Festival vacation, previously scheduled to end on Jan. 30, was extended to Feb. 2. Universities, primary and middle schools and kindergartens across the country will postpone the opening of the spring semester until further notice.
Sports revival and trade & economic activities are equally important and there is need for planning to continue the both at the same time.
These views were expressed by traders of various markets at a meeting held at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry with LCCI Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad in the chair. Bashir A Baksh, Ch Khadam Hussain, Malik Kalim Ahmad and Rehmatullah Javed also spoke on the occasion.
The participants said that revival of sports activities in Pakistan was a good omen as it would definitely enlighten the soft image of the country. But trade and economic activities have equal importance therefore government should make a plan in consultation with the stakeholders to hold the sports events without affecting the trade and economic activities, they said.
The LCCI Vice President said that sports revival in Pakistan and travel advisory by the UK government were an ample proof of the fact that Pakistan was a peaceful and safest country.
He said that the LCCI and the business community supported efforts of the government aimed at highlighting the soft image of Pakistan's but it was also important that business activities should not be damaged.
He said that during recent cricket matches, Liberty and other markets and restaurants adjacent to Gaddafi Stadium Lahore were ordered to remain closed, which resulted in significant loss of business activities. He said that few PSL matches were scheduled to be held in Gaddafi Stadium during the next month.
He said if the markets would be closed even during those matches, the consequences would be worse. The business community and those earning daily wages would face financial losses. He said the business community was ready to cooperate with the government to ensure all necessary security measures during these matches, but they also want that the adjacent markets and restaurants should not be forced closure as it would create the impression that the security situation was not normal.
He suggested to build a state-of-the-art luxurious hotel in the premises of Gaddafi Stadium Lahore for the guest teams.