ISLAMABAD: Textile and clothing exports grew 25.43 per cent year-on-year to $14.24 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal year, mainly on the back of a massive depreciation in the rupee’s value and a steady rise in global demand.

The year-on-year growth in March was recorded at 19.9pc, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Saturday.

The government has already unveiled textile and apparel policy last month with various measures to promote production as well as quality of the textile and clothing. In the budget 2021-22, the government drastically reduced duty and taxes on the imports of several hundred raw materials to bring down the input cost of exportable products.

Liquidity issues were also resolved to a considerable extent by a timely release of refunds, customs rebates and the payment of cash subsidies.

Data showed that ready-made garment exports jumped 26.24pc in value and 33.93pc in quantity during July-March, while the exports of knitwear edged up 34.12pc in value but dipped 4.84pc in quantity. Bedwear exports grew 19.33pc in value and 15.01pc in quantity.

Towel exports were up by 18.42pc in value and 5.01pc in quantity, whereas those of cotton cloth rose by 26.51pc in value and 8.91pc in quantity.

Among primary commodities, cotton yarn exports dipped 25.97pc and those of yarn made from material other than cotton increased by 104.5pc. The exports of made-up articles — excluding towels — rose by 10.84pc, while those of tents, canvas and tarpaulin dipped by 7.87pc during the period under review. The export of art, silk and synthetic textile increased by 27.63pc during the months under review.

The import of textile machinery jumped 64.68pc in July-March year-on-year to $621.68m, reflecting expansion or modernisation in the textile industry.

For bridging the shortfall in the domestic sector, the industry imported raw cotton in July-March value of which posted an increase of 16.80pc, while the import value of synthetic fibre posted a growth of 27.51pc, followed by the import of synthetic and artificial silk yarn 30.10pc during the months under review.

The import of worn clothing recorded a growth of 66.47pc in the first nine months of the current fiscal year from a year ago.

During the nine-month period, the country’s overall exports posted a year-on-year growth of around 24.98pc to reach $23.35bn from $18.68bn in the same period last year.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2022