Aptma urges immediate steps to bring textile sector out of crisis

KARACHI - Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association Muhammad Iqbal Ebrahim, has expressed concern over prevailing crisis of gas rate for Captive Power Plants (CPPs) which has not yet been resolved even though the govt has given firm assurance to resolve this issue and bring the gas tariff at par for both CPPs and the general industry.  
Iqbal Ebrahim, in statement on Tuesday, said that APTMA is demanding the Govt that there should be no discrimination in the gas tariff between Captive Power Plants and the general industry and request to bring the tariff at par with the general industry and abolish with immediate effect the newly created discriminatory category of Captive Power Plants (CPPs).
Chairman APTMA further said: “we have requested the government that the gas/electricity tariff be freezed for at least one year so that industry in general and exporters in particular could concentrate to cater export market and earn much needed foreign exchange for the country.
He further said that the stakeholders should be taken into confidence while formulating any formula for gas/electricity tariff in future.
He added that the govt has given assurances to the stakeholders that R&D Support Facility will be restored to the exporters who added value to their exports but it is kept in abeyance since last month. Similarly moratorium on outstanding loans and the reduction in the short term and long term finances availed by the industry has not yet been finalized.   
Chairman APTMA said that recently the parity of US Dollar against Pak Rupee has gone up from Rs60/- to Rs72/- per US$. This is an extra ordinary situation unmanageable by Textile Mills. A lot of member mills have been hurt seriously on account of this massive devaluation. He added that number of mills had kept their position open against import under L/C for raw material and machinery and many had entered into Cross Currency Swap under SBP Financial Derivatives Business Regulation.