Likewise other economic targets, the government is also struggling to achieve annual export target of above $20-billion in the fiscal year 2010-11, chiefly due to the ongoing power crisis and high mark-up rate. "The industry is facing worst power and gas loadshedding, besides other issues, which crippled the economic activities that is affecting exports. Therefore, the government has to struggle to achieve the annual export target set for the ongoing financial year," an official told on Tuesday.
He was of the view that industries were showing negative growth and the whole export target depended on the prices of by-products of textile sector in international market, as if prices remains on the higher side, the government would not be able to achieve the target. The government had set $21.5 billion export target for the current fiscal year, however, later it was revised to around $20 billion after the unprecedented floods, which destroyed the main export items of the country. Meanwhile according to the figures of Federal Bureau of Statistics, the country exported goods worth of $8.883 billion in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year.
However, the exports of December and January are likely to be affected because of power crisis, which might create problems for the government to achieve the target. It is worth mentioning here that the government has so far missed all the economics targets of the ongoing financial year including of fiscal deficit, inflation rate and others. Meanwhile a former president of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh told that due to ongoing gas crisis, exporters are losing their share in the international market, as they remain unable to meet the export targets on time.