Textile industry dubs gas cess anti-business

KARACHI: Textile industry on Tuesday dubbed the gas cess anti-business as it will lead to massive closure of export-oriented units, unemployment and deteriorating law and order situation.
Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Sindh-Balochistan region Tariq Saud said the gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) Act, 2015 passed by the lower and upper houses will not only raise the cost of doing business and overburden the taxpayers, but may also become a cause for the complete shutdown of the export-oriented textile industries.
“Instead of taking such punitive steps, the government should focus on facilitating the business community that will automatically generate more tax revenue, create jobs and enhance exports,” Saud said in a statement.
He said textile industry is already facing high cost of doing business and liquidity constraints.
“Re-introduction of gas infrastructure development cess and its implications will add insult to injury for the industry reeling under absence of liquidity flow,” he added.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association chief said the textile industry’s refunds worth Rs160 billion are already stuck with the government and therefore, “We’re not in a position to pay gas infrastructure development cess at all”.
“Liquidity crunch and energy constraints have already left 30 percent of the industry’s capacity unused,” he said.
He said the GIDC Act will not only make Pakistan’s textile exports uncompetitive in the region but will also result in flight of capital and unemployment.
Textile exports dropped 16 percent in March over the same month last year, while basic textile exports witnessed a decline of 10 percent during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last fiscal despite the advantage of the GSP (generalised scheme of preferences) plus.
Textile leader urged economic managers to save the export-oriented textile industry from further downfall.