When a country’s largest export sector begins to openly warn of collapse, policymakers can no longer afford denial or delay. The Pakistan Textile Council’s (PTC’s) call for an “Export Emergency” is not a lobbying slogan—it is a red alert for an economy already struggling to stay afloat. The call is for real as its effects are being felt on ground in terms of declining exports, worker layoffs and textile units’ closures.

Pakistan’s textile sector, the backbone of the country’s exports and industrial employment, has reached a critical breaking point. The PTC, in a candid letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has urged the government to declare an “Export Emergency” to arrest the rapid erosion in competitiveness that now threatens exports, jobs, and macroeconomic stability.

The warning could not be timelier—or more alarming. Pakistan’s exports declined by over 14 percent year-on-year in November 2025, thus marking the fourth consecutive month of contraction. During the first five months of........

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