Hey @EconomistAadil. Read your piece in the express tribune dated 3rd May. The growth numbers are great but negate what is happening right now. Exports are slowing down really fast due to the really high freight costs.
It seems to me that the current government has no control over the shipping industry and nor does it seem interested in managing the shipping problems faced by exports. Insiders talk about empty containers being exported to ports where shipping companies can maximize returns.
Long queues of container trucks can be seen at ports these days with most of them struggling to find an empty container to bring back to shippers. Delays in shipments directly correspond to delay in exporters getting paid.
This back log doesn't seem to get better soon and I am quite concerned why no one is talking about this huge problem. Inventories are piling up and it only a matter of time when mediums and small businesses will come to a halt and big businesses might soon follow.
This obviously is a huge external factor which the government policies might not have helped change. Also it's is a global supply chain issue due to Covid-19, but I just find it really misleading when growth numbers are shown without keeping the current scenario in mind.
2020 saw the least amount of cotton production which Pakistan has seen in 3 decades, couples with the rupee appreciation and the hike in freight cost has made it a huge challenge to be a running export business these day.
Only if PNSC was operational these days it could have been a great relief for all import and export businesses in Pakistan and it surely could have made a lot of money to the government. Shipping has been neglected quite a bit my Pakistani governments mostly.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
