Call to release outstanding refunds of textile exporters

FAISALABAD: Pakistan Textile Exporters Association chairman Asghar Ali has said that the government’s immediate intervention is need of the hour to check drastic downfall in exports by immediately releasing the outstanding refunds of textile exporters.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, PTEA chairman Asghar Ali said that extreme cash flow crunch had squeezed the financial streams and breading the liquidity jerks, adding that exports were falling consistently both in value and quantities. He termed severe liquidity crunch as major cause of export decline.

He appealed to the government to rescue the ailing textile industry as extreme cash flow crunch was hampering export growth and adversely impacting the industry. There was a capital blockage for textile exporters as their major capital remains stuck-up in sales tax, custom duty drawback and income tax refund cycle, causing a major dent to textile exports, he added.

Criticising the current refund regime, he informed that refunds of exports made 12 months earlier were still unpaid. He lauded the announcement of payment of refund claims upto Rs 5 million and termed it as a positive development. He said that under the current refund regime, affected claimants were not in a position to utilise liquidity, which they utilise four times in a year for manufacturing and exporting of consignments.

Another PTEA leader Ahmad Kamal said that textile exports were crumbling and the industry and business were squeezing due to unavailability of funds. The government should bailout textile industry and exports from the crisis by removing hurdles, he added. He demanded immediate release of blocked refunds.

He said that exporters were already working under dire circumstances as the cost of production had increased rendering them unable to compete in international market. To keep the industrial wheel running and providing jobs to maximum working hands, it was imperative to facilitate the optimum industrial activity, he added.