(b)  The external environment remains favorable. The present oil price hike has created serious pressures on the current account balances and it is essential for an oil-importing country such as ours to see some moderation in the prices of oil. The other burning issue is the increased market access to Pakistan’s textile exports to the U.S. and the EU.
The tariff discrimination and anti-dumping duties against Pakistan’s exports have tilted the playing field against us. The developed countries can assist Pakistan not by increasing the burden on their taxpayers in the form of aid but by reducing the prices of apparels and textiles for their own consumers in the form of enlarged market access.