Pakistan, June 17 -- Pakistan's leading export groups have raised serious concerns over the recent budget changes. They say these changes will damage the country's $11 billion value-added export sector. The sector includes garments, sports goods, and leather products. It contributes about one-third of national exports and is already under pressure from rising costs.

The exporters demanded an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Several trade bodies, including PRGMEA, SCCI, and PHMA, joined this appeal. They called for restoring the Final Tax Regime (FTR) and the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) to their earlier forms. They believe these changes are making it harder to do business and losing buyers' trust.

Business leaders ...