ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: Federal Textile Industry Minister Mushtaq Ali Cheema has said the country will import around 2.5 million bales of cotton this year to meet the domestic requirement. Talking to Dawn the minister said that a formal decision to this effect would be taken following the arrival of the cotton in the market.

According to the initial information, the minister said that the cotton production was estimated at 13m bales this year as against the projected 15 million bales.

The minister said that there was a boom in the production of textile products this year and the government would import cotton to meet the local demand.

He said that last year the country witnessed robust growth in the production of cotton but despite that around 1.5 million bales were imported.