Exports of Pakistan’s textile sector continued to maintain a downwardtrajectory, clocking in at $1.48 billion in August compared to $1.58billion recorded in the same month of the previous year for a year-on-yeardecline of 6%, showed provisional data released by the All Pakistan TextileMills Association (APTMA) on Saturday.
Data showed the country’s textile exports in the first eight months ofcalendar year 2023 decreased by 19% to $10.58 billion, declining from $13billion in the same period of 2022.
The year-on-year decline is concerning for the South Asian economy, whichfaces a shortage of foreign exchange. The low level has already caused itscurrency, the rupee, to depreciatelinkmorethan 25% in the inter-bank market since the start of 2023.
However, on a monthly basis, the textile exports improved 13%, as comparedto $1.31 billion recorded in July.
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Although forex reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) haveimproved, currently at $7.8 billionlinkamidinflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and bilateral partnersincluding Saudi Arabia and UAE, reserves remain under pressure on accountof external debt servicing.
Days ago, Caretaker Federal Minister for Commerce and Industries andProduction, Dr Gohar Ejaz, who is also the patron-in-chief of APTMA, set anambitious target of $25 billionlinkintextile exports for the current financial year against the $16 billiontarget for the last fiscal year.
