FAISALABAD: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has invited the textile exporters for negotiations on the demand for restoration of special energy tariff for the export industry.
According to Patron Chief of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Khurram Mukhtar, a meeting in this regard has been arranged for Thursday. It is to mention that on the request of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, the then finance minister Ishaq Dar gave regionally competitive tariff to the textile industry in December 2015.
Under the energy tariff, the entire textile value chain was also given a subsidy of $1.20 per MMBTU on gas. However, this special energy tariff has been abolished by the current government from October 1, 2022. It should be noted that it has taken at least four years for Pakistan to regain its export share in the foreign markets and during the last two years.
The textile exporters have invested five billion US dollars to increase their production capacity to achieve 35 billion US dollar export target in the next five years. In such a situation, if the special energy tariff is not restored, it is feared that it would reduce the exports as well as increasing unemployment due to the closure of the industry.
It should be noted that the government’s decision to end the special energy tariff had a strong reaction from various segments of the textile sector and some industrial organisations are considering initiate a protest movement in this regard.