Cross subsidies, protective duties, costly bank credit at home coupled with tariff and non-tariff barriers abroad are pushing textile exports to brink of disaster and unless competitiveness is restored, survival of this vital economic sector would be at stake.
This was stated by Mian Tahir Ishaque Bharara, chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) while talking to newsmen here on Wednesday. Commenting on the State Bank governor抯 remarks about misuse of research and development (R&D) facility by exporters, he said the impression by the SBP governor was not correct.
The R&D facility is not favourable to the exporters but a partial offsetting of the burden charged to textile sector of cross subsidies to fertilisers and protective duties on polyester fiber, dyes and chemicals and accessories allowed to specific home industries, he added.
Regarding disappointment over the performance of textile exporters against disbursement of Rs 45 billion for R&D payments, the PTEA chief said that the benefits of this facility were wiped off by frequent hikes in electricity, gas and petroleum products prices.
The matter was compounded by severe load shedding during the peak manufacturing season crippling the industrial manufacturing activity and ultimate failure to meet export commitments, he added. The below expectation performance of textile exports were due to lack of a-level-playing-field to the exporters, he said.
Elaborating his argument, Bharara said that exports in many countries were zero-rated. Countries like India and China were providing tax relief and recompensing exporters in different forms, but in Pakistan high incidence of taxes, duties and levies were making the textile exports uncompetitive.
When the raw material has been made costlier and the prices of manufacturing inputs are raised every 15 days, overhead expenses jump arbitrarily, anti-dumping duties and discriminatory tariff barriers are slapped against the exports how a quantum jump in exports could be made, quipped Bharara.
He said that central banks in developing countries were facilitating the exporters but in our case the exporters are facing credit crunch and impracticable policies have resulted in credit squeeze for exporters, who were already heavily burdened with inflationary cost of inputs and manufacturing hassles. He urged the authorities concerned to facilitate the textile export, which constitutes major portion of foreign exchange earnings and is backbone of the national economy.
This was stated by Mian Tahir Ishaque Bharara, chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) while talking to newsmen here on Wednesday. Commenting on the State Bank governor抯 remarks about misuse of research and development (R&D) facility by exporters, he said the impression by the SBP governor was not correct.
The R&D facility is not favourable to the exporters but a partial offsetting of the burden charged to textile sector of cross subsidies to fertilisers and protective duties on polyester fiber, dyes and chemicals and accessories allowed to specific home industries, he added.
Regarding disappointment over the performance of textile exporters against disbursement of Rs 45 billion for R&D payments, the PTEA chief said that the benefits of this facility were wiped off by frequent hikes in electricity, gas and petroleum products prices.
The matter was compounded by severe load shedding during the peak manufacturing season crippling the industrial manufacturing activity and ultimate failure to meet export commitments, he added. The below expectation performance of textile exports were due to lack of a-level-playing-field to the exporters, he said.
Elaborating his argument, Bharara said that exports in many countries were zero-rated. Countries like India and China were providing tax relief and recompensing exporters in different forms, but in Pakistan high incidence of taxes, duties and levies were making the textile exports uncompetitive.
When the raw material has been made costlier and the prices of manufacturing inputs are raised every 15 days, overhead expenses jump arbitrarily, anti-dumping duties and discriminatory tariff barriers are slapped against the exports how a quantum jump in exports could be made, quipped Bharara.
He said that central banks in developing countries were facilitating the exporters but in our case the exporters are facing credit crunch and impracticable policies have resulted in credit squeeze for exporters, who were already heavily burdened with inflationary cost of inputs and manufacturing hassles. He urged the authorities concerned to facilitate the textile export, which constitutes major portion of foreign exchange earnings and is backbone of the national economy.
