The sources said the Finance Ministry has refused to allocate funds to the Commerce Ministry for "extravagant expenditure on unnecessary activities" under the guise of Textile Policy initiatives. The Commerce Ministry had sought Rs 60 billion for three years but the Finance Ministry is not ready to give more than Rs 10 billion in three years. However, financial support for the current fiscal year would be restricted to Rs 2 billion.
"The Ministry of Finance supports the Commerce Ministry''s efforts to accelerate exports and promote domestic commerce provided that it does not result in huge expansion of staff strength and proliferation of projects under it," sources quoted the Finance Ministry as conveying to the Commerce Ministry. The sources said the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission have reportedly joined hands to reject most of the export-oriented initiatives of the Commerce Ministry proposed in the STPF on the basis of different arguments.
"The Commerce Ministry''s intervention would have key performance indicators and quantitative targets which would be pre-agreed with Finance Division and Planning Commission. The outcome of the intervention would be measured/gauged," the sources added. The sources said the Commerce Ministry has proposed setting up of Export Promotion Leather Council and Services Exports Development Council aimed at focusing on these two weak sectors.
According to the sources, main focus of new Trade Policy would be on domestic commerce as Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf during his visit to the Commerce Ministry stressed domestic commerce which was missing from the old Trade Policy. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Dr Nadeem-ul-Haq also criticised the Commerce Ministry for not giving importance to domestic commerce.