Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association's (PRGMEA) chairman Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq on Wednesday demanded of the government to take drastic measures for enhancing exports as well as for addressing problems of the industrial sector on top priority. He said that garment exporters are facing liquidity problem in the wake of delays in their sales tax refunds and as such their demand of zero rating for the textile sector must be acceded to as without which the industry cannot survive.

He deplored that the government had not given any price cushion to the consumers for many months despite the fact that oil prices have been falling constantly in the international market since long and it was at its 12-year-low price on January 12, 2016. He said that all those people associated with readymade garments business were making their all-out efforts to enhance export in the larger national interests, besides proving huge employment in the sector. He also urged the authorities concerned to immediately implement power tariff cut mechanism to ensure deduction of Rs 3 per unit for the value added export-oriented industry as per Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's announcement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2016