Exports of textile, clothes records over 7% growth

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Exports of textile and clothes record a growth of over seven percent during first five months (July to November) of the current fiscal year (FY) due to a cash subsidy offered to the exporters under the prime minister’s incentives package and the payment of sales tax refunds.

The country exported textile and clothes of worth $5.5 billion during July-November period of the FY 2017-18 as against $5.1 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Revival of the textile and clothes’ exports enhanced the country’s overall exports to $9 billion during the current financial year as compared to $8.2 billion in the corresponding period of the last year. For the last couple of years, the exporters have been continuously demanding rupee depreciation against the dollar to enhance the country’s exports, which tumbled by around $5 billion in the last few years.

The government had offered the subsidy scheme under the prime minister’s exports enhancement package and had released the pending refunds and ensured better energy supplies. These steps helped the exporters enhance their exports during the period under review. According to the PBS, the main driver of growth was the value-added textile sector. Exports of ready made garments went up by 14.69 % in the first five months of the ongoing
financial year. Similarly, exports of knitwear increased by 12.07 % during the period under review. Exports of bed wear went up by 6.65%. In the category of primary commodities, exports of cotton yarn witnessed a growth of
0.64 percent while the exports of yarn other than cotton recorded a rise of 15.81%. Exports of made-up articles, excluding towels, had increased by 7.92 %. Art, silk and synthetic textile exports grew by 55.30 % during the period under review.

However, exports of tents, canvas and and apparel exporters announced on January 10 had declared a number of incentives, including withdrawal of customs duty and sales tax on the import of cotton yarn from January 16 this year, but no such step has been implemented so far, according to PHMA chairman Khurram Anwar Khawaja. He appealed to the government to abolish additional regulatory duty on cotton yarn that should be imported freely from anywhere, a Pakistani newspaper reported. tarpaulin dipped by 33.56 %. Exports of cotton products also recorded a decline of 95.71 % during July-November period of the year 2017-18 over a year ago. On the other hand, the imports went up by 21.1 % and were recorded at $24.1 billion during first five months of the current financial year as against $19.9 billion during the same period last year. Pakistan’s combined import bill of food, oil and
machinery swelled by over 15.32 percent during July-November of the ongoing financial year