Islamabad [Pakistan], July 19 : Pakistan’s exports of textiles and clothing have contracted by 14.63 per cent year-on-year to USD 16.50 billion during the outgoing FY23 due to higher production costs, liquidity constraints and lower global demand, Dawn reported.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday showed that exports in June witnessed a year-on-year decline of 13.73 per cent to USD 1.47 billion.
Pakistan’s total merchandise exports, as a result of this decline in exports of textile and clothing, have dipped by 12.71 per cent year-on-year to USD 27.54 billion in 2022-23 from USD 31.78 billion in the preceding fiscal year.
The textile export sector experienced a troubling trend of negative growth right from the beginning of the current fiscal year, except for a slight increase in August 2022 due to a backlog from the previous month, as per Dawn.
The PBS data showed the exports of readymade garments shrank 10.57 per cent in value in FY23 but grew by 39.27 per cent in quantity, while knitwear dipped 13.36 per cent in value but grew 9.81 per cent in quantity, bed wear posted a negative growth of 18.26 per cent in value and 21.10 per cent in quantity.
Total exports, however, slightly decreased by 10.05 per cent in value and 11.20 per cent in quantity, whereas those of cotton cloth dipped by 17.06 per cent in value and 23.86 per cent in quantity.
As per Dawn, among primary commodities, cotton yarn exports declined by 30.04 per cent, while yarn other than cotton by 31.85 per cent. The export of made-up articles, excluding towels, dipped by 18.44 per cent, and tents, canvas and tarpaulin went up by 24.93 per cent in FY23 from a year ago.
The import of textile machinery declined by 57.03 per cent in FY23, a sign that expansion or modernisation projects were not a priority.
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