ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s clothing and textile exports surged by 26 percent to $12.06 billion during the first eight months of the current Fiscal Year 2021-2022, reports WealthPk.
According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on March 14, clothing and textile exports in February rose by 35.72 percent on a year-on-year basis. The main commodities of exports during February were knitwear which contributed Rs73,131 million, readymade garments with export value of Rs62,500 million, bed wear with Rs46,308 million and cotton cloth with Rs41,308 million.
According to the data, exports of readymade garments surged by 25.11 percent in value and 20.5 percent in quantity during July-February 2022. Similarly, exports of bed wear rose by 20.3 percent in value and 17.2 percent in quantity.
Moreover, exports of towels and cotton cloth also surged by 17.2 percent and 28.2 percent in value and 5.56 percent and 13.0 percent in quantity, respectively.
With the rise of textile exports in February, imports are also rising.
According to the data, textile machinery imports increased by 78.5 percent during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2022, while imports of raw cotton in quantity slightly decreased by 11.9 percent.
Exports during July-February 2021-2022 contributed Rs3,520,242 million (provisional) compared to Rs2,651,319 million during the same period of last year to the current account. This change shows an increase of 32.77 percent in exports.
The rise in textile exports is mainly due to the incentives provided by the current government to the industry in the budget 2021-2022. The textile policy for 2021-2022 and 2024-2025 provides a lot of incentives to the industry, including revised prices of gas and electricity.
Secondly, the rise in exports is also led by devaluation of the rupee against the dollar that made Pakistan’s goods cheaper in the international market, which ultimately led to the rise in the exports.
To minimize the gap of $-31,946 (July-February 2021-2022) million of trade deficit, Pakistan must continue to maximize its exports and minimize its imports. Sectors like textile must be appreciated through incentives so that their contribution to exports can be maximized.
INP
