‘Provide LPG to textile industry on priority basis’

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan textile industry has accused the coalition government of not treating it well. These views were expressed by representatives of all sectors of the textile industry as they conveyed their concerns to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his team. They said textiles accounted for more than 60 percent of national exports but Pakistan’s total exports have decreased by 11.61pc on a year-on-year basis between July 2022 and April 2023.

Talking to this scribe, Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman Javed Balwani stressed the continuation of regional competitive energy tariff for exports. He appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq to meet the representatives of the textile industry on an urgent basis. Exporters also expressed their disappointment over the word “subsidy” and said it was no subsidy at all. They said it was a refund of local taxes instead. Domestic and commercial consumers should be shifted to LPG as regional governments have done it to increase their exports. In regional countries, it is not supplied through pipelines but through cylinders, they added.