PM's export package

PM's export package was unveiled with high hopes to accelerate the rate of export expansion. However, this measure seems to have recently encountered certain problems. According to the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), the ministry and the central bank are not serious in implementing PM's export package and are constantly employing delaying tactics. The Association has particularly expressed serious concern over elimination of 'Association's role' in the new notification dated 12th December, 2017, stating that the present procedure is not practicable and cannot be implemented. Such notifications and circulars show that bureaucracy is in no mood to implement the package at a time when the country is struggling against a huge trade deficit. The role of associations must be restored if the government is serious for real implementation of PM's package with full transparency and merit. Earlier, the associations used to undertake the responsibility to examine documents and claims of exporters before onward transmission to the authorised dealers. SBP had taken a one-sided decision without consultation of the associations, which are the elected platforms of the industry.
We don't know why the government and the SBP have changed the procedure and mechanism to ascertain the authenticity of claims under the PM's package but what the PRGMEA has alleged seems to be right. Earlier, the associations were exercising due diligence to ensure authenticity of documents verified by the notified committee members of the associations. The associations used to undertake the responsibility to check documents, verify the claims of exporters, bills of lading, etc. Now, instead of involving associations, exporters have been asked to directly submit their claims to banks which have no technical staff to examine or evaluate claims. If the role of associations is eliminated, it will take a long time and exporters will face a lot of difficulties in settling their claims with banks which do not have the capacity and the required skills to scrutinise claims. This will discourage exporters and nullify the spirit of the PM's package at a time when the trade deficit of the country is rising almost constantly. Anyhow, if the government and the SBP had certain serious reservations in relation to the implementation of the package, associations must have been informed about these allegations. If the reservations were not properly attended to, only then the government could have resorted to the extreme measure of filing the claims directly to the authorised dealers. On the other hand, the associations' claim that banks have no proper technical staff to evaluate the claims seems right. All said and done, we are of the view that the government and associations need to sit together and resolve the issue with a view to utilising the package fully and without much hassle. If the government has certain serious reservations, associations must be taken into confidence with a view to avoiding such complaints in future. The matter of expansion of exports is so important at this juncture that no stone should be left unturned to achieve the intended objective.