Pakistan Ready-made Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has urged the policymakers of ensure easy of doing business in country for which it said they should adopt a more comprehensive approach to address high economic growth agenda instead of focusing solely on raising wages, as it would be additional burden on the industry. In joint media statement on Sunday, Central Chairman PRGMEA Mubashar Naseer Butt and Regional Chairman Ahmad Hanif said the government should work on skills development and infrastructure, investing more in education as well as creating an enabling environment for business growth and job creation to enhance the living standard of the working class. Mubashar Naseer Butt argued that the year-to-year rate of inflation, as measured by Consumer Price Index, had come down to only 11.8 per cent in May 2024, and was the lowest since November 2021, therefore the industries should be provided more facilities. He stressed the need to analyse the factors which have contributed to sharp decline of inflation, asserting that year-to-year rate of inflation has been falling steadily since December 2023, when it was 29.7 per cent.

The rate of decline has averaged over 3.5 percentage points monthly. However, the decline was exceptionally large at 5.5 percentage points in May 2024, as compared to April 2024. Regional Chairman PRGMEA Ahmad Hanif said that budget makers should have taken into consideration the whole textile and garment industry and incorporated their proposals in the new budget for fiscal year 2024-25. He called for lowering cost of production, solution of liquidity crunch through early refunds payment, low energy tariff and relaxed import policy for industrial raw material so that industrialization can be promoted and exports can be enhanced. He said that various provincial departments including Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI), Social Security, Women Welfare, Environment Department should facilitate the manufacturers and exporters in a more better way. He suggested the government to work on bringing around significant improvements in ease and cost of doing business for the export industry.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan