A year’s gain vanished in one month
Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports edged up only *.** per cent to $**.** billion in FY****, adding about $**.* million. June then delivered a **.** per cent year-on-year fall to $*.** billion and a **.** per cent drop from May.
The roughly $*** million June shortfall erased **.* per cent of the export gain accumulated during July–May. What appeared to be a stable year was therefore an **-month advance followed by an exceptionally damaging close.
The industry also became more important for the wrong reason. Textiles supplied about **.* per cent of Pakistan’s $**.** billion merchandise exports, up from approximately **.* per cent a year earlier, because non-textile exports contracted much faster. Pakistan is now more dependent on a sector that barely grew.
