ISLAMABAD: The country’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) growth fell to 2.5 per cent during July-March 2014 -15 as compared to 4.6 per cent in the same period of last fiscal year.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2014-15, the major reasons for the slowdown was slow imports of cotton yarn by China, gas shortages and policy issues of the government, mainly related to the agriculture sector.
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman SM Tanveer urged the government to control rising cost of doing business in Pakistan. He said that the cost of production has increased, with energy being the largest contributor followed by taxation, with issues on refunds and tax on textile exports.
The Aptma chairman said that the exchange rate has also made the sector’s products uncompetitive, while salary increases have also driven the cost of production up.
The industry-specific data shows that subsectors that recorded negative growth during July-March FY15 are wood product, engineering products, paper and board, food and beverages, tobacco and rubber.
The sector showing growth are iron and steel products, automobiles, leather products, electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, non-metallic mineral products, coke and petroleum products, fertilisers and textile.
