LAHORE – Textile Minister Abbas Khan Afridi and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will discuss removal of snags in the approval of the second five-year Rs88 billion draft textile policy (2014-19).
The textile industry leaders already dismayed by the inordinate delay in the approval of the policy drafted eight months ago are not much hopeful about the outcome of the meeting.
Many industrialists think that the government is delaying implementation of the policy because of its fiscal problems. A garments exporter said, “Since the implementation of the policy will require the cash-strapped government to immediately settle outstanding export refund claims of Rs22bn, it is trying to delay its implementation on one pretext or the other.”
The textile policy promises settlement of outstanding refund claims of exporters, procedural improvements in refund regime, drawback of the local taxes on 10pc increase in annual exports, establishment of an Exim bank, duty free import of machinery and subsidised export refinance.
