Textile exports slumping despite government incentives

KARACHI: The slump in Pakistan’s exports continued in May on the back of overall slowdown in the country’s manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

Data published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday showed that the country’s cumulative exports in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year fell by marginal 0.29 per cent to $21.267 billion compared to $21.329 billion during the same period last year.

Food, textile, and other manufacturing sectors all declined during the cumulative period despite a massive fall in the rupee’s value against the US dollar.

The government had set an ambitious exports target for Fiscal Year 2019, but year-end figures have revealed a major failure to achieve the targets despite extension of the tax benefits to the export-oriented sectors.

However, month-on-month exports during May grew by 0.42 % to $2.10 B — second highest in the ongoing fiscal year.

The decline in the textile sector exports came amid a massive slump in exports of non-value added segments including raw cotton which declined by 67.19 % to $18.876 million, cotton yarn by 16 % to $1.048 B, and cotton cloth 3.65 % to $1.94 B.

However, overall textile exports during May grew by 4 % month-on-month led by a 7 % jump in exports of value added segment.