By Raza Khan ISLAMABAD, June 10 (INP-WealthPK): Despite year-on-year (YoY) growth of 59% in May and 28% during the July-May (2021-22) period, Pakistan’s textile exports are likely to miss the export target of $20 billion for the current fiscal year. Pakistan’s average monthly textile exports during 11 months of FY22 were recorded at $1.609 billion. Following these numbers, annual exports are expected to reach around $19.20 billion, which is short of the target. With the growth of 28% in July-May 2021-22, Pakistan’s textile exports rose to $17.67 billion from $13.76 billion during the corresponding period of last fiscal year (2020-21), All Pakistan Textile Mills Associations (APTMA) said. Textile exports were recorded at $1.69 billion in May against $1.06 billion during the corresponding month of last year, registering a significant increase of 59%, APTMA said. The exports’ volume of 11 months has already crossed the total textile exports of last year ($15.4 billion), the highest in the country’s history. APTMA’s Secretary General Shahid Sattar told WealthPK that textile sector has grown substantially and exports also increased this year, but still the annual target is expected to be missed marginally. He said that there were various factors which halted the expected exports during the last few months. “Those factors include increase in prices of petroleum products, expensive raw material and global financial crisis,” he explained. Shahid also blamed the energy shortage in the country for disturbing textile exports. “Shortage of gas and electricity halted production of industry which resulted in the loss of exports worth millions of dollars,” he pointed out. The APTMA secretary general said that hike in fuel prices increased transportation charges and resulted in the extra cost of raw materials. He said the Russia-Ukraine conflict also worsened the overall global economy and disrupted the supply chain. The conflict also disturbed trade activities. “Local business environment was also not favourable during the last few months,” Shahid added. The APTMA secretary general said that despite problems, the textile sector in Pakistan has already registered record exports this year. “Textile sector is going through expansion and massive investment is coming,” he informed. He hoped that the country’s textile exports will grow further in coming years. According to data, textile exports in each month of the current fiscal year surpassed exports in the corresponding months of last fiscal year. The highest textile exports during any month of the current fiscal year were recorded $1.739 billion in April, beating the previous record of $1.736 billion in November. Pakistan’s total exports were recorded $28.848 billion during July-May (2021-22) against the exports of $22.576 billion during the corresponding period of last fiscal year, with an increase of 27.78%, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data. According to the Board of Investment (BoI), Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile products in Asia. It is also the fourth largest producer and the third largest consumer of cotton. Textile comprises 46% of the total manufacturing sector and provides employment to 40% of the total labour force. According to Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-25, textile exports will be enhanced up to $25 billion in fiscal year 2022-23, $31 billion in 2023-24, and $40 billion in 2024-25.