- Textile shipments rose to $1.43 billion in October: APTMA.
- Exports have declined by 7% in the first 4 months of the current financial year.
- The declining trend in exports continued till September.
ISLAMABAD: Textile exports recorded a 5% growth for the first time in 10 months, signaling a possible recovery for an industry hit by rising input costs and the global recession. news Information was given on Friday.
According to All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) data, shipments increased to $1.43 billion in October from a year ago. It was the first month of positive growth since January.
However, textile exports declined 7% to $5.55 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year, which began in July, compared to the same period last year. The data also shows that during the 10-month period in calendar year 2023, textile exports fell 16% to $13.14 billion from $15.88 billion registered in the same period of calendar year 2022.
In January 2023, textile exports fell 15% to $1.32 billion from $1.55 billion in the same month of calendar year 2022. In February, exports fell 30% to $1.18 billion from $1.67 billion in the same month of 2022. Highest recorded in February. Negative growth.
The declining trend in exports continued through September: exports fell 23% in March; in April, 29%; in May, 20%; in June, 14%; in July, 11%; in August, 7%; And 11% in September.
“It is a matter of pride that due to collective efforts, we are seeing positive trends related to the significant reduction in our trade deficit,” Commerce and Industry Minister Gauhar Ijaz, formerly of X, said on Twitter.
Ijaz said the country is now witnessing economic stability as the trade deficit in the first four months of the current financial year (FY24) narrowed to $7.42 billion from $11.36 billion in the same period of FY23, as the July-October 2023 Imports decreased during this period. It increased to $17.03 billion from $20.91 billion in the same period of 2022. Similarly, exports during July-October 2023 stood at $9.61 billion, as against $9.55 billion in the same period of 2022.
Last month, APTMA had asked the government to reduce power tariffs to make the textile sector competitive with regional countries.
APTMA demanded increasing the power tariff without cross-subsidy to non-producing areas by Rs 10.85 per unit.
The textile industry is currently paying 16 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity, which is higher than the tariffs in Bangladesh, India and Vietnam.
Originally published in news
