Asghar Ali, Chairman and Muhammad Asif, Vice Chairman of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) said that huge amounts of value-added textile exporters are stuck up in sales tax, local taxes drawbacks, customs rebate, and federal excise duty refund regimes creating severe financial crunch and if that amounts are released, exporters can invest that capital towards expanding their businesses, which in turn will help Pakistan's export earnings grow.
Severe shortage of energy has already devastating the manufacturing and industrial sectors rendering export units dysfunctional and the situation is resulting in the loss of production, they added.
Talking to newsmen, they said that Pakistani exports are under stress due to prevailing economic, financial, industrial crises which have badly affected the industrial and trade activities, productivity and employment. Textile export sector, the major revenue generating sector to the tune of more than 13 billion dollar per year was in doldrums, textile exports are crumbling and the industry and business were squeezing due to non availability of funds, they claimed. Held up amounts of exporters under the above heads have created financial crisis for them and they are unable to increase their exports, it was contended.
Asghar Ali was of the view that textile exports are plunging, thousands of workers are being laid-off and smaller units are pulling down the shutters. Textile industry has taken a severe hit at a time when many of the leading players had invested huge sums in upgrading infrastructure and expanding capacities, planning to meet the growing needs of the export market.
Textile exports which had amounted to $12.3 billion in financial year 2011-12 was projected to rise to $15 billion in the current fiscal but it seems not to achieve the desired targets, he added.
Muhammad Asif pointed out that the exporters were working under dire circumstances as the cost of inputs was increasing day by day rendering them unable to compete in international market.
PTEA office-bearers demanded that the government should bail out textile industry and exports from the crisis by removing hurdles and provision of necessary incentives to increase the textile exports of the country. They demanded early release of stuck-up funds in sales tax, customs rebate DLTL and SED refund regimes to enable the textile exporters to retain their hard won export markets at this time of tough competition in international markets.