Expressing concern over a sharp hike in energy prices, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association (KP-TMA) has attributed this hike to the last nail in the coffin of the Pakistan textile industry in general and the KP Textile Industry in particular.
Afan Azia, Chairman, KP-TMA, issued a statement to the media after presiding over an emergent meeting of the textile millers and said that the decision would negatively impact the export-oriented textile industry.
The meeting was convened to discuss the drastic increase in energy prices and withdrawal of the regional competitive energy tariff of Rs. 19.99/kWh and a gas tariff of Rs. 852 MMBTU.
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He added that the remaining 40 per cent of the market that had remained open would also close due to this act of the Government and the textile industry would lose all export orders due to regional competitors.
He also said that the textile industry is the largest job provider and earns the much-needed billions that the country is in desperate need of. He stressed that the high energy prices will not only lead to the loss of market share in the international market, but also lead to the closure of many units and would result in massive unemployment.
He further said that the higher costs of energy would directly hurt the textile industry since these are the key inputs in production. This rise would additionally lead to a reduction in GDP and would lead to high inflation, leading to a slowing down of economic growth.
He called for the restoration of the already committed energy tariff and the release of stuck-up sales tax, income tax and DDT refunds to use as working capital.
