LAHORE: The Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) on Wednesday called for promoting industrialization and enhancing exports by providing export industry a level-playing field through continuation of regionally competitive energy tariffs, paying early refunds to solve liquidity crunch and relaxing import policy for industrial raw material, as the Budget 2023-24 has no such provisions.

PHMA Zonal chairman Naseer Butt, while addressing a meeting, held here to discuss the post-budget perspective of the country, observed that the present budget lacks major objective of giving a long-term direction to the value-added knitwear export-oriented industry, as no visible reduction in cost of doing business or cut in taxes in budget has been announced to speed up the growth or create new jobs in the country.

He said that Pakistan needed millions of jobs annually but the government had not taken any concrete step in federal budget for job creations for the unemployed youth.

The PHMA in its Executive Committee meeting discussed the current economic situation of the country and also passed resolution to make all-out efforts to enhance value-added textile exports to support the government and heal the economic turmoil by earning more foreign exchange, as the country needs dollars through jump in export not through foreign funding or loans.

Showing serious concern over the proposed new tax on dollars’ gain, which is very dangerous for the export industry and which is prevailing nowhere in the region or in any part the world, he pointed out that in present outlook, only exporters are at the front to bring dollars to Pakistan.

The Value-Added Textile Export Industry is battling hard in the wake of stiff competition from regional competing countries.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023