PYMA protests 400% hike in tariffs.

KARACHI -- The Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) has raised alarm over the recent hike in electricity and gas tariffs and is urging the government to reverse them immediately, warning of catastrophic consequences for industries and domestic exports.

'This huge electricity and gas tariff hike is an anti-business and ant-industry initiative,' said Sohail Nisar, Senior Vice Chairman of PYMA. He has appealed to the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Minister of Energy Power Division Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan to take action and reduce the cost of doing business in the country.

Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Coordinator of the Value-Added Textile Forum, believes that the export sector, particularly the value-added textile sector in Pakistan, is on the verge of collapse due to the government's neglect of the economy. He blamed the government's anti-business and anti-export mind-set for the country's current economic turmoil.

The industry is facing closure due to an extreme liquidity crunch and stuck sales tax refund claims worth billions of rupees, leading many industrialists to plan to shift their industries abroad. Unavailability of gas, lack of uninterrupted electricity supply, shortage of industrial inputs or raw materials, and excessive delays in refunds to exporters are also adding to the sector's woes.

Approximately 60% of exporters' liquidity is stuck as the government has stopped all sales tax refund claims, said Bilwani. He urged the government to take immediate action to save the export industries, which holds more than 60% share of the national...