Pakistan’s textile industry calls for policy support

September 02, 2025 (MLN): Pakistan’s textile sector urged urgent government and policy support to boost export competitiveness, even as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) highlighted significant macroeconomic improvements and economic stability.

The call came during the Annual Meeting of the Pakistan Textile Council (PTC) in Karachi, which brought together the country’s leading textile exporters, policymakers, and stakeholders.

SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad, attending as Chief Guest, addressed the gathering and outlined key achievements, including a rise in foreign exchange reserves from $2.8bn in early 2023 to $14.3bn, a narrower current account deficit, and remittances exceeding $38bn in FY2025.

Inflation has fallen to 3.2%, enabling the SBP to cut the policy rate from 22% to 11%, while fiscal consolidation and stable external debt have restored market confidence.

While acknowledging these gains, PTC Chairman Fawad Anwar highlighted ongoing challenges affecting exporters, including the exclusion of essential raw materials from the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS).

He reiterated the need for measures such as withdrawal of import duties on these materials, a uniform 1% duty drawback scheme, and subsidized financing to counter rising wage and energy costs.

“The textile and apparel industry remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. Bold policy support is essential for capturing global market share rather than losing ground to competitors,” Mr. Anwar said.

The meeting also highlighted consensus on keeping textile exports central to Pakistan’s economic recovery and continued collaboration between PTC and SBP on financing schemes for renewable energy and concessional export credit to maintain global competitiveness.

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