The government would not compensate losses of exporters from taxpayers’ money, said the Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.
“A few firms made a commercial decision to take the risk & sold forward US$. They are now asking Govt to cover their losses i.e. Rs. 15 billion,” he clarified in response to the demand of bailout to compensate for the losses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The top 26 textile exporters of the country asked the government to provide them with the option to make international export contracts to make up their losses. As per the official data, the textile exporters faced a loss of nearly Rs. 12-15 billion.
Abdul Razak Dawood said in his recent tweet, “I feel that this is not fair as it was a business decision which did not work out. It was also discussed at the highest level & my views were supported. It has therefore been decided that Govt. will not compensate these firms from taxpayers’ money
The sudden increase in the dollar level has caused the textile exporters severe loses and they also had to pay additional penalties
Furthermore, resources told Pak Revenue, “As export orders are deferred or cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19)-led shutdown of port operations and markets, they [exporters] are receiving no dollars in sales to settle this forward. This would’ve been fine if the dollar had maintained its value.”
Exporters empathized the government to reduce their losses for the textile sector as it would be beneficial to minimize the unemployment rate in the country.
