Govt revises export target to $19.2bn

[LahoreEstate]

By Tanveer Ahmed

KARACHI: Government has revised the export target of current financial year to $19.2 billion from $22.1 billion, Daily Times learnt on Monday.

The target of $22.1 billion was set in Trade Policy 2008-09, however it became evident in April of current fiscal that target is impossible achieve in the current situation when the export sector was facing immense hardships domestically as well as externally.

In the beginning of month of May, Federal Ministry of Commerce (MoC) directed its relevant departments to work out the new export target due to eroding capability of export sector to achieve the task.

The official documents suggest that during the first ten months of last financial year, 79.3 percent of total export target was achieved and during the corresponding period of current year, 66.8 percent of the target was achieved providing the justification of the downward revision of export target.

Country exported $14.762 billion worth of goods in first ten months of current financial year, and it seemed unable to achieve the remaining export figures in the rest of the months.

Last year, Pakistan exported $19.2 billion worth of goods. In July-April period of current fiscal, the total export posted negative growth of 3.03 percent over the previous year.

The new export target is almost same what Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) worked out for the current year when it was tasked to come up with the new target. Following an extensive exercise, TDAP suggested that new export figures would be - more or less same - what the country exported during the last fiscal.

Officials said that right from the start of current financial year, the export sector was confronted with the global financial crunch, which eroded the demand of imported goods in the USA and EU-the largest trading partners of Pakistan.

Furthermore, the domestic infrastructure problems especially the prolonged power outage caused severe blow to export-oriented export sector in the shape of severe dent in the production of exportable items. The export shipments suffered due to the exporters' inability to meet the export order in time.

Also, the deteriorating security situation in the country has been sending negative signals abroad by portraying a dangerous image of Pakistan in the entire world.

Foreign buyers, according to officials, are reluctant to visit the country in the precarious security situation, which has been resulting in the loss of future export orders.

About the export target set in the current trade policy, officials said it was unrealistic right from the beginning because the policy markers were unable to interpret the signals of global financial crisis which started emerging by that time.

So far all the export categories performed dismally particularly the largest export earner textile, leather, sports, surgical and some other manufacturing groups.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg5_4