Business

Pakistan’s textile exports see massive decline of 28% in Feb

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Textile exports plunge to $1.2 billion in February.
Exports in first eight months of FY 2023 decreased by 11%.
APTMA urges govt to seek concession from IMF for exporters.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s textile exports dropped for the fifth consecutive month in February, seeing a decline of 28% and landing at $1.2 billion as compared to the same month of the last fiscal year, The News reported Tuesday.

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association’s (APTMA) data showed a dismal picture of the exports of textile goods — the largest contributor in the overall export sector as well as the largest employment-generating sector of the economy.

The country’s textile exports in the first eight months of the current financial year decreased by 11% to stand at $11.24 billion, declining from $12.60 billion recorded in the corresponding months of the last financial year, said the APTMA.

The decline in textile exports comes at a time when the country is already facing depleting foreign exchange reserves, which are just $3.81 billion, hardly sufficient for less than a month of imports.

Last month, APTMA urged the federal government for a level playing field by implementing a uniform gas price of $7 per mmBtu for the export industry across the country.

It also warned that the decision of the government to suspend the regionally competitive energy tariff (RCET) of electricity for export-oriented units (EOUs) would hurt the textile industry, particularly in Punjab.

APTMA’s Secretary General Shahid Sattar in a letter to the government said that the textile industry has been asking for an electricity tariff of 9 cents despite the fact that the electricity cost, including transmission and distribution losses, stood at 8.1 cents per unit if cross-subsidies were excluded as per Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) calculations.

The textile body wants the government to persuade the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to continue RCET for the exporters, particularly the textile sector, which was vital to make the products competitive in the international market.

“We have invested $5 billion in the textile sector over the last three years, and the textile sector surged to $19.5 billion in the financial year 2022 from $12.5 billion in FY2020,” Sattar said.

If the government succumbs to the IMF pressure, the robust growth of 55% in exports in FY22 and investment of $5 billion would go to waste, he pointed out.

Business

China Contributes 43 New Foreign Firms to the 6% Growth in SECP Registrations

Published

11 hours ago

Farwa

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has registered 2,617 new firms this year, a 6% increase from 2023, with assistance from the Special Investment Facilitation Council. This increases the overall number of businesses that are registered to 231,111.

Non-profits, trade associations, and public unlisted firms make up 4% of these, while private limited corporations make up 55% and single-member companies 41%. It is noteworthy that 99.8% of the registrations were done online, demonstrating SECP’s attempts to digitise.

Real estate has 237 new businesses, services has 306, and trade has 377 new businesses. These are the main sectors exhibiting growth. While the healthcare and textile industries each had 49 new businesses, the education sector saw 101.

China contributed the most, adding 43 new companies, out of the 61 new companies that were registered as a result of foreign investment.

These recently registered businesses are anticipated to decrease imports, increase domestic production, and contribute to closing the trade deficit.

Business

PSX reaches an all-time high as the KSE-100 Index surpasses 86,000 points.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has achieved a significant milestone, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index has attained an unprecedented peak.

On Tuesday at midday, the index ascended by 788 points, attaining a record high of 86,846 points. Following the ratification of the constitutional amendments, the stock market has increased by 1500 points over a span of two days.

Earlier today, the KSE-100 Index increased by 683 points, attaining a value of 86,741 points, before concluding at this new apex.

The bullish trend was apparent from the commencement of the trading session, with the index rising an additional 555 points to reach 86,612 points throughout the day. The reinstatement of the 86,500-point threshold signifies robust market performance.

Business

In three months, Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 33.54 percent.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

During the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July to September), Pakistan’s IT export remittances hit US$ 876 million, a notable 33.54 percent rise from US$ 656 million during the same period previous year (FY 2023-24).

In a statement, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the amount of money sent home by the export of ICT services was US$ 292 million in September 2024, a 41.7% increase from US$ 206 million in the same month the previous year.

She stated that efforts to make it easier for businesses to conduct business in the nation are the reason why IT exports are rising and that actions are being taken to increase them.

In response to the Prime Minister’s directions, Shaza Fatima stated that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the IT industry are dedicated to boosting IT exports with the full assistance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

A trade surplus of US$ 764 million was recorded by the IT & ITeS sector in the first three months of FY 2024–25, accounting for 87.21 percent of all ICT export remittances.

Over the same period last year, this surplus represents a 36.67 percent gain over US$ 559 million. The services industry as a whole, however, experienced a trade deficit of US$ 699 million during this period.

The largest of all service sectors, ICT export remittances from July to September 2024, were US$ 656 million, followed by “other business services” at US$ 374 million.