ISLAMABAD: As part of the government’s austerity efforts, the army has decided to hold the traditional military parade on Pakistan Day on a smaller scale in order to reduce costs
Cotton scarcity and restrictions on opening Letters of Credit (LCs) for imports have harmed the textile industry’s exports, resulting in widespread unemployment.
The issue was recently raised by the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) in a letter to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad. According to the association, the textile industry is on the verge of bankruptcy because production and earnings are far below potential.
The Association expressed concern that the closure of the industry would result in the layoff of over 10 million people and a loss of more than $10 billion in annual export revenue.
It further mentioned that due to last year’s floods and heavy rains, local cotton production has remained at less than 5 million bales in the current season.
The APTMA wrote, “The textile sector is closed in the current unfavorable conditions. Consequently, there will be massive unemployment in the country,” adding that “the textile industry will have to import at least one million bales of cotton to meet its requirement. However, banks were not opening LCs for import of the required quantity of cotton”.
The Association has warned that mills are running out of cotton stocks, forcing the industry to halt production due to a lack of raw materials. It has urged the governor of the SBP to open LCs for cotton imports, citing the fact that import consignments were stranded at ports and needed to be released as soon as possible.
The general elections in Punjab that were supposed to take place on April 30 have been postponed by the Pakistani Election Commission due to the recent wave of terrorist attacks across the nation.
On Wednesday, police in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) said they had arrested at least 316 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers for “rioting,” as party chief Imran Khan appeared in court in the Toshakhana case on March 18.
Sui Northern Gas has announced special initiatives to ensure that its customers have uninterrupted gas supply during the holy month of Ramzan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued directives to ensure continuous power supply throughout Ramadan, particularly during Sehr and Iftar times.
On Tuesday evening, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 jolted several parts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed on Tuesday that all resources and efforts should be used to introduce modern modes of education, including digitisation initiatives, in addition to providing teachers with the most up-to-date training.
As part of its energy-saving mission to save the economy, the government has officially prohibited the use of old, high-energy-consuming bulbs and other lights.
According to sources, Muhammad Naveed has been asked to take over as Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for an indefinite period of time.
President Dr. Arif Alvi said that the Information Technology (IT) industry is the fastest-growing sector in the world and we need to pay attention to this for the betterment of the country.
Musadik Masood Malik, Minister of State for Petroleum, announced on Monday that the government will charge the rich Rs. 100 per litre more and use the money to subsidise fuel for the poor.
