IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SAARC ECONOMIES

Abstract

Purpose- The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on financial performance of listed textile industry and to develop a comparative analysis of selected SAARC economies during the pandemic period.
Design/methodology/approach- This study uses pooled ordinary least squares regression & fixed and random effects models to examine the cross-sectional sample of 60 companies listed in stock exchanges of selected SAARC economies during 2011-2021 (N=660).
Findings- This study found that the early impact of Covid-19 has negative impact on economy of SAARC countries. But after early destruction of Covid-19 by adopting smart lockdown policies by Pakistan’s Govt. the impact of Covid-19 changes into positively and as India’s Govt. announced several relaxation measures in geographical areas designated as non-hotspot the impact also become positive but the long run impact in Bangladesh is negative.
Research limitation/implications- This study’s result shows that those economies used smart policies and latest technologies in textile sector have positive impact of Covid-19 on financial performances. For future research, this study suggest that further study may be expanded in other sectors such as pharmaceutical and automobile etc and other economies.
Originality/value- This study focuses on enhancing the empirical knowledge of impact of Covid-19 on financial performance of textile industry in selected SAARC economies at micro level.