Textile and clothing exports has decreased in second month from a year ago owing to a decline in value-added exports, the export value of these sectors dropped down to $1.23 billion with a decline of 3.12 per cent.
According to the data, released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Textile and clothing exports have fallen in the month of February. The July to February data shows that the growth in textile and clothing exports was mainly from the value-added product. The value of exports reached $9.99 bn in this month, this year as compared to $9.37 bn during the same period last year with the growth 6.6%.
The product-wise detail shows that the export of ready-made garments came down by 14.96 % in value, bed wear decreased 1.20 % and the export of towels fell by 3.59 % during February, this year. The export of knitwear went up by 13.04 % in value.
Javed Bilwani, the Chairman of Pakistan Apparel Forum told the media that the government had been informed about the situation. The government was requested a number of times to allow duty-free import of cotton yarn to bridge the shortfall in local production. He added that the government was requested to allow the import of cotton yarn from India via land routes. The value-added sector was not in a position to retain the international orders because of the non-availability of cotton yarn in the country.
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Bilwani warned that it is likely that the export will fall further in case the government takes no action in this regard. On the issue, Abul Razak Dawood, the Advisor to the Prime Minister said that there are many options, the government has been contemplating and nothing has so far been decided in this regard but it is expected that the things will be finalized in a few days.
The Advisor added that the textile policy would be finalized when there is a decision on subsidy on gas and electricity for this sector. He said, however, the policy would be finalized soon. Razak Dawood told about the measures, the government took to boost up the textile and clothing sector.
He said that the government abolished the duty and taxes on industrial raw material and paid off the pending refunds to exporters. The devaluation of local currency and lowering the interest rate were also the big steps, the government took for the acceleration of the industrial growth. Especially the export-oriented industry flourished due to these measures. The Advisor said that the government has decided to announce a five-year textile policy.
