Pak textile exports post dismal 0.68% growth

Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports recorded a meagre 0.68 per cent year-on-year surge to $1.139 billion in December 2018, taking the six-month (July-December FY19) exports to $6.645 billion up 0.06 per cent, as rupee devaluation failed to push exports in the absence of utilities for the industry.

Pakistan Apparel Forum (PAF) Chairman Zubair Motiwala said had there been no rupee devaluation, exports would have plunged significantly. “This is the only benefit currency devaluation brought for the export sector.” On month-on-month basis, textile sector exports recorded a growth of 28.19 percent in December compared with $1.1 billion recorded in November 2018, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

Motiwala said the cost of production was higher in Pakistan as compared to regional competitors, which had limited the market for Pakistani products in the world.