Pakistani officials have warned that projects related to China Pakistan Economic Corridors (CPEC) may very well be affected due to COVID-19 crisis.
According to the report submitted to National Coordination Committee (NCC), hurdles and delays in supply chain Chinese companies, along with labour availability and worker issues will contribute to significant delays in the projects resulting in higher project costs.
The report also highlighted the fact that Pakistan’s aim of establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZs), will also be affected and might as well face significant delays due to supply chain disruptions and uncertainty of human resource availability.
G-8 countries intend to diversify global supply chain. Countries like China might consider shifting their production facilities to other countries so that in any crisis that might emerge should not be able to significantly affect the supply chain. Pakistan could benefit from such policies aimed at diversifying the global supply chain by ensuring essential policy making that supports and encourages Pakistan’s chances of being a serious contender for such opportunities and investments.
The report further recommended to formulate and implement specific policies for the sectors and industries that have been severely affected by the virus crisis by introducing special tax reliefs. Global markets have been experiencing a downward trend, along with significant drop in exports and remittances resulting in problems with fiscal adjustments and higher debt accumulation accompanied by restrictions in revenue generation with a simultaneous increase in expenditure demands.
