Houston, Texas, August 19, 2010: Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA (PCC-USA) the leading trade organization of Pakistani-American businessmen requests donor agencies to provide debt relief to Pakistan. Pakistan is an agrarian economy and depends largely on textile exports to earn foreign exchange. On the other hand over 6% of Pakistan’s GDP is spent on debt servicing.

The recent floods in Pakistan have devastated the standing crops of wheat and cotton. This heavy loss in cash producing crops is expected to affect not only the domestic economy but also create food shortages in the country. In this situation PCC-USA strongly support the proposal to relax sovereign loan repayment for next five years to reduce burden on the current account. This will help the government of Pakistan to divert budget resources for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of over 20million people affected by the floods.

PCC-USA also requests US policy makers to relax duty on textile imports from Pakistan for next three years. This will help textile growers and manufacturers in the flood affected areas to rebuild their production capability.

Pakistan needs uplift in the domestic economy which is only possible through a stimulus package. PCC-USA would request the donor agencies to dedicate most of their funds to procure relief goods from local producers in Pakistan. This will not only help the local economy but also create jobs for unemployed unskilled workers.

In recent years Pakistan has been hurt by the double edged sword of terrorism and natural calamity. Recent floods are the second large scale disaster inflicted on Pakistan in last five years. We hope world community will come up with unique ideas to help Pakistan in this time of duress without creating more debt burden on the poor nation.