Pakistan’s textile exports had a substantial 28% reduction, falling to $1.2 billion in February 2023 from $1.67 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year, showed provisional data released by the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Monday.
The association added that the country’s textile exports in the first eight months of FY23 decreased by 11% to $11.24 billion, declining from $12.60 billion recorded in 8MFY22.
The decrease in textile exports is worrying for the South Asian economy, which is already dealing with declining foreign exchange reserves. Only $3.81 billion worth of reserves, hardly enough for a month’s worth of imports, remain at its central bank.
With a 34.5% year-over-year decline in cotton arrivals in Pakistan, industrialists are concerned about the prolonged slump in the textile industry, showed data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA) on Friday.
Last month, the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) urged the federal government for a level playing field by implementing a uniform gas price of $7 per MMBtu for the export industry across the country.
APTMA also warned that the decision of the government to suspend the regionally competitive energy tariff (RCET) of electricity for Export Oriented Units (EOUs) will hurt the textile industry, particularly in Punjab.
