He said that over Rs 30 billion claims are processed and awaiting payment till date. He also said that industry was facing non-payment of DLTL claims despite the earlier assurances by the government that payments would be made even if no allocation is made.
The former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced a package of Rs 180 billion in early 2017 with a payment arrangement of Rs 10 billion per month for 18 months, starting from January 2017 and ending up on June 2018. "It was 4 to 7 percent of value-added export of yarn fabric and garments which was local taxes drawback for exports. But the government has paid only Rs 18 billion after 13 months, which is equivalent to payment of two months, ie, up to March 2017," he regretted.
He said the industry was unable to understand as to why the government was not making payment against a policy commitment announced a year earlier. He further pointed out that the Punjab-based textile industry, which is 70 percent of the total textile industry in the country, was paying Rs 1300 MMBTU for LNG against Rs 600 per MMBTU in Sindh/KPK region. It was also paying Rs 13 per unit for electricity, he said and added that how the industry would become viable to compete in the international market and increase exports.
He warned that the textile exports would be wiped out if the government failed to meet its commitment to make exports viable.
He said the matter needs urgent attention of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Advisor to PM on Finance Miftah Ismail and Governor State Bank, saying that the government had announced this scheme to support the export-oriented industry but the ground reality is a negation of it. Not only this, but the government has also failed to pay the stuck up sales tax refunds despite an announcement of liquidating sales tax refunds by February 15, 2108.