Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Razak Dawood has said that the government will take measures in the coming budget to reduce the custom duty for increasing exports of synthetic fiber (technical exports).

The adviser stated this while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce about draft Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-25, which envisages rationalization of custom tariffs and taxation regime and offers Rs925 billion incentives for growth of textile and apparel exports to $19 billion by 2024-25.

The adviser on commence said that Pakistan has been heavily relying on 70 percent cotton exports and 30 percent man-made fiber (synthetic fiber), whereas, in other countries, situation was vice versa, with 70 percent technical exports and 30 percent cotton.

The adviser said he was struggling to dismantle the custom duty imposed to increase the revenue collection after going into the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. The additional custom duty two percent was abolished and in budget, three percent duty will also be abolished, he added.

He said that when the government went into the IMF program, the IMF contention was that Pakistan revenue collection is very low and there is need to increase it. Therefore, the government decided to impose two percent, four percent, and seven percent, addition custom duty, he said, and added that now he was fighting to abolish it. The adviser also sought the committee’s support for removal of custom duty on imports as said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may resist it on the contention of revenue increase.