Karachi, October 24, 2024 – The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the federal government to reintroduce a six-day working week for both federal and provincial government institutions to bolster the economy and facilitate the business sector.
In an official statement, KCCI President Muhammad Jawed Bilwani appealed for the reinstatement of a six-day workweek across all relevant authorities, institutions, and departments. He emphasized that this change is crucial to revitalizing the economy and easing challenges faced by businesses and industries.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Bilwani expressed concerns about the hardships caused by the additional holiday on Saturdays, which has been observed since 2011. “The business and industrial community has struggled with the Saturday holiday, particularly when it affects key sectors like government ministries, the State Bank of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan Stock Exchange, and financial institutions,” Bilwani stated.
Bilwani pointed out that shipping companies also observe Saturdays as holidays, causing delays in handling export and import consignments. “This leads to heavy demurrage and detention charges, creating a financial burden on businesses. Additionally, the lack of banking services on Saturdays adversely affects commercial activities, especially when dealing with countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),” he said. GCC countries observe Fridays as their weekly holiday, further restricting financial transactions to only four days a week.
The KCCI President highlighted another issue – cash deposits. Commercial centers and wholesale networks face difficulties due to the unavailability of banking services on Saturdays. This situation, Bilwani said, increases security risks as businesses are forced to hold onto cash over the weekend, and incidents of cash snatching have reportedly risen on Saturdays.
Bilwani recalled that the five-day workweek was introduced in October 2011 as a measure to conserve electricity during a period of severe energy shortages. However, he argued that in 2024, the country faces no such crisis. “The Ministry of Energy has confirmed that Pakistan now has a surplus of electricity, and capacity payments are being made to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that remain idle. The current situation demands full utilization of our energy resources,” he added.
The KCCI also noted the disparity between the public and private sectors, where private sector employees typically work six days a week, while government employees work only five, or in some cases, 4.5 days. Bilwani stressed that increasing the number of working days for government institutions would help align the public sector with the private sector, boosting productivity across the board.