The government may be unable to implement Prime Minister's Rs 180 billion export package due to paucity of funds as it requires release of Rs 7 billion per month to exporters under different incentives, it is learnt. Textile Ministry senior officials as well as industry stakeholders are pessimistic about the implementation of the package, saying there is no timeline, ownership, mechanism or allocation in the budget for duty drawbacks/incentives announced in the package.
The package was announced on January 10, 2017 in a bid to boost country's falling exports and the incentives were notified on January 23 for textile sector and on February 2 for non-textile sectors. Despite the passage of three and a half months, Finance Ministry has released only Rs 1 billion for duty drawbacks and that too on local taxes collected from garments, home textiles, processed fabric, greige fabric and yarn manufacturing cum-exporter units. Exporters however claim that they are yet to receive any money under the scheme so far.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), textile and clothing exports rose by 6.2 percent year-on-year to $1.064 billion in March 2017. However, exporters have questioned the credibility of the data arguing that ground realities are different and the increase is no more than 2 percent. Industry stakeholders told this correspondent that PM package failed to address their main concerns which include a grossly over valued rupee, and high input costs (power/gas) relative to their international competitors. The claims submitted by exporters are remaining un-cleared and there is no timeline in the package that stipulates clearance of refund claims. Talking to Business Recorder Chairman Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Ijaz Khokhar said that the PM package lacks implementation spirit and is not result-oriented.
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