Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance had claimed that domestic sales of Textiles amounted up to Rs. 1,200 billion per annum. His assertion turned out to be false as the Textile Industry on Thursday rejected claim that Sheikh had made.
While speaking at the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturing Association, Jawed Bilwani, Zubair Motiwala, Naqi Bari, Rafiq Godial and Shabir Ahmed collectively denied the assertions made by the Finance Adviser, challenging him to come forth with calculations that supported figures mentioned by him.
The leaders in the industry said if Sheikh’s figures were to be considered as domestic sale of Textiles, Rs, 1,200 in if divided among the population of approximately 220 million, it would have every Pakistani spending Rs, 5,455 annually on clothing which makes no sense as it is impossible for every single person to spend this amount on clothing because 50% of the population in the country is below poverty line.
They denied the claims alleging that these figures were put forth only with a purpose to justify the withdrawal of zero-rated facility from the budget that was allowed to export sector.