The Pakistani government has reached an agreement with textile exporters to address their concerns and also ensure that no additional financial burden is borne by the power and finance divisions for current and next financial year combined, minister for economic affairs Hammad Azhar announced recently.
It was agreed by the parties that the government will provide a maximum of Rs 20 billion total subsidy for power and petroleum, in the form of cross subsidy and/or allocation, in the next year's budget, according to Pakistani media reports.Pakistan has reached an agreement with textile exporters to address their concerns and ensure that no additional financial burden is borne by the power and finance divisions for current and next financial year combined, minister for economic affairs Hammad Azhar announced recently. Exporters feel hike in power tariffs may lead to closure of textile mills.#
“We have reached an agreement with all stake holders of textile exporting sectors that addresses their concerns and also ensures that no additional financial burden is borne by the power and finance division for current and next financial year combined," the minister said in a tweet.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab chairman Adil Bashir had urged Prime Minister Imran Khan a few days back to review the decision of add-ons and surcharges that has raised power tariff to 70 per cent retrospectively for the export-oriented industry. The decision could lead to closure of mills and render thousands jobless, he feared.
Bashir had said Pakistani exports could not compete with China, Bangladesh and India where power tariffs are lower.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)