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Sitara Textile Mills, one of the leading textile mills in Faisalabad, along with over a hundred other small and large industries, has shut down due to escalating production costs driven by rising energy bills and interest rates.
According to a report in The News, operational textile mills have slashed their production by up to 40%.
On Saturday, Chaudhry Salamat Ali, group leader of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association, stated that these closures have left between 150,000 and 200,000 workers unemployed in the city.
He warned that unless the government reduces electricity and gas prices and lowers the interest rate to a single digit, even the remaining operational mills will be forced to shut down. Ali also highlighted that most factories have stopped accepting new export orders and are only completing existing ones, with further closures expected by next month.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has raised concerns that several multinational companies are planning to relocate their back offices from Pakistan, with many having already done so recently.
This warning follows a report by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce that 3,968 Pakistani companies registered in Dubai between January and June 2024, making Pakistan the second-ranked country on the list. This figure is 17% higher than the 3,395 firms registered during the same period in 2023. Last year, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce registered 8,036 new Pakistani businesses.
