Vice Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMEA), North Zone, Faisal Mahboob has rejected withdrawal of zero rating on the local sales of five zero-rated sectors without consulting major stakeholders.
In a press statement, Mahboob said that the five zero-rated export sectors are already facing difficult times due to the skyrocketing prices of cotton and cotton yarn, non-availability of polyester yarn and anti-dumping duty on polyester, and frequent and unannounced load shedding of gas electricity, severest liquidity crunch and serious law and order situation. Now, withdrawal of the zero-rating would create huge problems for the entire cotton supply chain, while massive number of resources would be stuck up, he added.
He noted that the country's industry had a very bad experience with the refund mechanism and currently, billions of rupees are pending with the government as duty drawbacks and refund regimes of the textile sector. Vice chairman PHMEA said that it seems that government is bent to put to death the entire export sector with such draconian measures, and compelling an exodus of the industries to other countries.
It is not at all realising the after effects, which would create mass closures and unemployment in the country, he maintained. He strongly urged the government to immediately reverse their decision of withdrawal of zero rating of the five sectors and declare the previous SRO 509 (I)/2007 dated 9th June, 2007 as a document without any amendment.