ISLAMABAD, AUG 9 /DNA/ – The Businessmen Panel (BMP) has called for an immediate and comprehensive response to the nationwide suspension of goods and oil transportation, warning that prolonged disruption in the movement of cargo could expose deeper structural weaknesses in Pakistan’s supply chain and impose fresh costs on an economy already struggling with high operating expenses.
BMP Chairman and former FPCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar said the present situation should not be viewed merely as a dispute between transporters and the government, as the uninterrupted movement of goods is fundamental to manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale trade, exports, imports and the distribution of essential commodities.
He said the suspension of a large portion of the country’s freight fleet had the potential to create a chain reaction across the economy. Factories dependent on regular supplies of imported and locally produced raw materials could face interruptions, while manufacturers with completed consignments could experience difficulties in moving goods to ports, warehouses and domestic markets.
“The transportation network is the bloodstream of the productive economy. Any prolonged interruption affects not only the transporter but also the manufacturer, exporter, farmer, trader and ultimately the consumer,” he observed.
The BMP chairman said the immediate priority should be to restore normal freight movement through meaningful negotiations, but the government should simultaneously address the underlying policy problems that had brought the transport sector to the point of a nationwide shutdown.
He said the introduction of daily petroleum price adjustments had added a new element of uncertainty to an already difficult operating environment. Fuel is a major component of freight costs, and when prices can change from one day to another, transport operators face difficulties in determining charges for journeys that may take several days.
This uncertainty subsequently reaches industrial and commercial users because manufacturers cannot accurately forecast the cost of moving raw materials or finished products. For exporters, the problem is even more serious because freight costs are often incorporated into orders and contracts negotiated weeks or months before shipment.
Anjum Nisar said Pakistan needed a petroleum pricing framework that reflected international market conditions but also provided sufficient predictability for businesses. He reiterated BMP’s earlier position that when global crude prices decline, the benefit should be passed through to domestic consumers and productive sectors rather than being substantially absorbed through petroleum taxes and levies.
He said the government’s revenue requirements were understandable, but excessive reliance on petroleum taxation could become counterproductive if it raised transportation and production costs to the extent that economic activity, exports and investment were adversely affected.
According to him, the impact of fuel costs extended far beyond road transport. Higher freight rates increase the delivered cost of raw materials, machinery, food products and finished goods. They also raise the cost of agricultural inputs and the movement of crops from farms to markets, while adding pressure to the distribution networks serving retail and wholesale businesses.
The BMP chairman said the present disruption also highlighted the need to modernise Pakistan’s logistics system. The country required better freight infrastructure, rationalised toll charges, adequate truck parking facilities around ports and industrial areas, streamlined licensing procedures and a taxation system that did not place disproportionate pressure on formal transport businesses.
He stressed that reducing logistics costs should be treated as an export policy rather than merely a transport-sector issue. Pakistani exporters already compete with producers from regional economies where manufacturers benefit from more predictable infrastructure and supply-chain arrangements.
“Export competitiveness is determined not only inside the factory gate. The cost of moving raw material into a factory and finished goods from the factory to the international market is equally important,” he said.
Anjum Nisar said the government should therefore establish a permanent consultation mechanism involving transporters, chambers of commerce, manufacturers, exporters, oil-sector representatives and relevant government agencies. Such a forum could identify emerging cost pressures before they developed into economy-wide disruptions.
He also called for a review of withholding tax arrangements affecting goods transporters, arguing that tax policies should encourage formalisation and expansion of the logistics sector rather than constrain its working capital. He said the government should examine all transport-related taxes, tolls and charges collectively instead of dealing with each issue in isolation.
The BMP chairman said the private sector was already coping with expensive electricity and gas, high financing costs, taxation pressures and uncertainty over input prices. Any further disruption in the movement of goods could therefore have a disproportionate effect on businesses operating with limited margins and working-capital constraints.
Anjum Nisar said Pakistan could not achieve sustained economic recovery simply through fiscal consolidation. Growth would require a simultaneous reduction in the cost of doing business, stronger industrial capacity, rising exports and a reliable domestic supply chain.
