Textile exporters strongly condemn the three month gas suspension plan for industries in Punjab, saying that the move will adversely impact Pakistan’s $13 billion exports.
Criticising the government decision, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Chairman Sohail Pasha and Vice-Chairman Rizwan Riaz said yesterday that the gas curtailment plan would push the textile industry to the wall.
They termed energy shortage as the prime cause of economic instability and decline in industrial growth, saying that 50 per cent of production capacity of textile industry is already dysfunctional due to energy shortage.
“We have never witnessed such a situation in history, as energy shortfall had totally been shifted to the industry. In the $13bn plus textile exports, Punjab is a major stake holder with $6bn share,” said Pasha. He said that country exported goods worth $7.97bn in July-October period of current fiscal against exports of $8.55bn in same period of outgoing fiscal showing a decline of 6.86pc.
Exports are declining since July 2014 and things will get much worse in the near future as the textile industry in Punjab had been deprived of its basic fuels, he said.
