APTMA regrets delay in refunds

Ag Reuters

LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Aamir Fayyaz on Monday regretted the delay in clearance of DLTL claims for the past several months.

He said over Rs30 billion claims were processed and awaited payment till date. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had announced a package of Rs180 billion in early 2017 with a payment arrangement of Rs10 billion per month for 18 months, starting January 2017 and ending on June 2018.

“It was 4 to 7 percent of value-added export of yarn fabric and garments to cover local drawback for exports. But the government has paid only Rs18 billion after 13 months, which is equivalent to payment of two months, ie, up to March 2017,” he regretted.

Fayyaz said the industry was unable to understand why the government was not paying as per its policy commitment announced a year earlier. He further said Punjab-based textile industry, which was 70 percent of the total, was paying Rs1,300 mmbtu for LNG against Rs600 per mmbtu in Sindh/Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.

It was also paying Rs13 per unit for electricity, he said, and asked how the industry could compete in the international market and increase exports. He said the government has also failed to pay the stuck up sales tax refunds despite an announcement of liquidating sales tax refunds by February 15, 2018.