LAHORE: The textile exports from the country have witnessed 10.63 per cent decline to $1.051 billion in October 2015 from $1.176 billion in the same month last year.
The overall textile exports during the first four months (July-Oct) of current fiscal year 2015-16 recorded huge decrease. The value-added textile industry has demanded the government to address the problems of the sector.
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Chief Coordinator Ijaz Khokhar, in a statement, urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to personally intervene in the matter and make a policy for reduction in all input costs. He said the government has increased the sales tax from 2% to 3% in the budget, which led to piling up of exporter’s refunds with the tax department. The government has also imposed 10% regulatory duty on yarn imports from India, mostly used by knitwear and woven apparel segments, to further increase the cost of doing business, he said. Thus, price of domestically produced yarn increased manifold, he added.
The sector exports had grown by 3% in July-Sept 2015-16, said Pakistan Knitwear and Sweater Exporters Association North Zone Chairman Shahzad Azam Khan, adding that during October 2015, readymade garments exports fell by 0.36%, knitwear 9.5% and bedwear by 8.92%. The textile exports of Pakistan got a boost of 13% due to import duty concessions under the European Union’s (EU) Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme in the outgoing fiscal year.
