Trade in AP falls by 30% in two months

Hyderabad: Political uncertainty coupled with economic slowdown has affected state’s trade and commerce.

In fact, trade has touched an all time low with a decline of over 30 per cent in the last two months alone. Many traders and industries plan to lock up their offices and hand over the keys to the government, according to a source in an industry association.

The uncertainty in state politics has affected consumers who are spending less, and credit flow in the market has dried up. While this is true in some other states too, it is much worse in Andhra Pradesh.

The industrial sector has been hit by shortage of power and then by steep increases in power tariff. On top of that, comes a credit squeeze by banks.

The problems have been mounting for the past two-and-a-half years and this has resulted in more than 70 per cent of small and medium industries becoming non-performing assets.

Even the bigger industries are now on the brink. Manufacturing industries that are power-intensive have been hit so hard that they are unable to hold on.

“There is a lot of pressure on industries. A closed door meeting has been called this week. Many industries are planning to lock up and hand over the keys to the government as we don’t know how to go on in this situation. We are tired of requesting the state government as well as the Reserve Bank to relax the norms. At a time when the industry needs credit for normal functioning, the banks have pulled back financing. There is simply no other way left,” said a senior member of an industry association.