Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 1 February

Transcription

1. Jan 31 - Feb 01 , 2021 KCCI - eBulletin Mandviwalla vows to take up Karachi business community issues Deputy Chairman Senate, Saleem Mandviwalla, while speaking at a meeting during his visit to KCCI, has advised the business community of Karachi to bring all their issues, including the zero rating, gas crises, sales tax and others, to his notice. Replying to the problems being faced due to Sales Tax on Services by indenters, he assured to summon Chairman FBR and Chairman SRB in his office to discuss and resolve this matter. He further pointed out that he received many applications from all over the country from businessmen who have been victimized by NAB. NAB should facilitate the business community of Karachi by opening up a helpdesk at KCCI as done in Islamabad Chamber. Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala, while highlighting the miseries and hardships being faced by the business community due to dilapidated infrastructure of Karachi, stated that this is not just an issue of Site area but the state of infrastructure in all the industrial zones was awful. General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil sought Mandviwalla’s assistance in dealing with delays in clearance of containers, particularly the consignments carrying raw materials which terribly affect not only the exports but also the local production. President KCCI Shariq Vohra, stressed that the federal and provincial govt.s must take steps for improving the dilapidated infrastructure of all industrial zones of Karachi particularly Site area. BR-Sun. Industrialists voice concern over gas discontinuation to captive power plants The industrialists, during a meeting of Sindh Industrial Liaison Committee held under the chair of Governor Sindh Imran Ismail on energy issues confronting to the industries, have expressed serious concern over the recent announcement of the federal govt. regarding discontinuation of gas to the industrial captive power plants and termed this decision as a “bomb blast”. The delegation of Sindh industries comprised of Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, Chairman BMG, Muhammad Jawed Bilwani and others informed that the govt.’s announcement has created great uncertainty and unrest to buyers of US and EU. The govt. side responded that it was a misunderstanding and the govt. has never intended to close down any industrial unit whatsoever. Such action shall be taken only when industrial unit shall be provided alternate energy solution as per their requirement. BR-Sun. FBR abolishes 2% ACD on import of 152 items FBR has abolished 2% Additional Customs Duty (ACD) on the import of 152 items, mostly raw materials including iodine, sulphur, acetic acid, magnesium hydroxide, bentonite, and machinery for making or repairing footwear. The FBR has issued a notification to amend SRO 572(1)/2020 (levy of additional customs duty). The ACD would not be applicable on the import of sulphur of all kinds. BR-Sun- . POL products’ prices increased Federal govt. has announced to increase the of petrol by PKR 2.70/litre to PKR 111.90/litre from PKR 109.20/litre, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by PKR 2.88 per litre to litre to PKR 116.70/litre from PKR 113.19/litre, Light Speed Diesel (LDO) by PKR 3/litre to PKR 79.23/litre from PKR 76.23/litre and kerosene oil (SKO) by PKR 3.54/litre to PKR 80.19/litre from PKR 76.65/litre. BR-Mon. PSX emerges 2nd best performing market in region Pakistan stock market emerged as the 2nd best performing market in the region and 7th in the world during the outgoing month, according to a brokerage report. The KSE-100 returns of 5.8% have outperformed last 10-year monthly average returns of 4.1 %. The No. 1 was Sri Lanka with 24.4% while China was on third with 4.3%. The News-Sun. Trade gate at Pakistan-Iran border reopened The trade gate between Pakistan and Iran has been reopened. The mutual trade gate, commonly known as Zero Point Gate, was closed four months ago by the Iranian authorities. Trade activities resumed as the gate was reopened after negotiations and official correspondence by Pakistani authorities. The trade gate has been reopened for three days a week and initially Iranian commodities will be imported during this period. Dawn-Mon. SBP creates service desk for borrowers of housing finance SBP has created a Service Desk to facilitate borrowers under govt.’s markup subsidy for housing finance for lodging complaints against banks while availing financing. People could register complaint by providing minimum details on the online service portal. The Nation-Sun. PM speaks about govt’s focus on Consumer Price Index, core inflation PM Imran Khan has said that the govt.’s efforts are coming to fruition as both the consumer price index and core inflation had touched lower than the time of govt.’s formation. Meanwhile, Minister for Planning Asad Umar said the inflation in the country continued to decline as the CPI based monthly inflation rate eased to 5.7% in Jan’21 compared to Jan’20. BR-Mon. \ Economic Indicators List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT 29-Jan 29-Jan PKR PKR 160.10 160.30 -0.11% -0.06% KSE-100 index FIPI 29-Jan 29-Jan Pts. $ Mn 46,386 -3.51 0.48% NM** Crude (AP'19) 29-Jan $/bbl 52.20 -0.27% Gold (MA'19) 29-Jan $/oz 1,850.3 0.49% Gold (10g) Local 29-Jan PKR 95,770 0.00% Silver (MA'19) 29-Jan $/oz 26.91 3.83% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 29-Jan PKR 11,574 0.00% Kibor-6M 29-Jan % 7.56 0.03% Forex Reserves 22-Jan $ Bn 20.11 WoW -0.07% Remittances Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn 14.20 24.89% Exports* Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn 12.10 4.98% Imports* Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn 24.52 5.72% Trade Balance* Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn -12.42 -6.44% Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. Jul-Dec 20 Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn $ Bn 1.13 0.95 155.66% -29.82% YoY Jul-Nov 20 LSM Growth* % 7.41 % 8.63 Jul-Dec 20 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 7.00 Jul-20 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful, WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Major Currencies 235 GBP, 31-Jan-21, 219.6 225 215 205 195 EUR, 31-Jan-21, 194.5 185 175 165 155 145 USD Feb-20 GBP May-20 USD, 31-Jan-21, 160.3 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Aug-20 Nov-20 “If you can push through that feeling of being scared, that feeling of taking a risk, really amazing things can happen.” FBR serves 1.4Mn notices on violators FBR has served 1.4Mn tax notices to individuals and companies. Tax notices have been served in three categories, non-filers of annual income tax returns, those who filed returns and concealed incomes and property seller and purchasers. Tribune-Sun. Occasional customers: SECP for further tightening of due diligence requirements SECP has directed stock market brokers, futures brokers, insurers, Takaful operators, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and Modarabas to further tighten their occasional customers’ due diligence requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and SECP’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. In this regard, the SECP has issued an SRO 105(I)/2021 regarding due diligence of occasional customers of the said regulated persons. BR-Mon. ‘Look Africa’ policy yields $ 5Mn orders from Sudan Pakistani exporters received more than $ 5Mn worth of export orders from Sudan under the ‘Look Africa’ policy. The orders are the outcome of the TDAP International Trade Fair at Khartoum held from 21st - 28th Jan’21. The event generated business of around $ 2Mn. Moreover, deals worth $ 3Mn are under process and will very soon be matured between the Pakistani exporters and Sudanese buyers. Dawn-Sun. FBR surpasses tax collection target by PKR 20Bn in Jul-Jan FBR has exceeded the tax collection target by PKR 20Bn for 7MFY21 and collected PKR 2.57Tn compared with collection of PKR 2.41Tn in 7MFY20. However, the challenge is lying ahead as the FBR will have to collect PKR 2.39Tn in remaining 5MFY21 in order to materialise the desired annual target of PKR 4.96Tn for FY21. The News-Sun. Pakistan to get 17Mn AstraZeneca vaccine in mid of 2021: Asad Umar Minister for Planning Asad Umar has said that Pakistan will receive 17Mn doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in first half of 2021. He said that about 6Mn doses will be received by Mar’21 with delivery starting in Feb’21. The Nation-Sun. 41 out of 47 IPPs initial master agreements In a positive development, 41 out of 47 IPPs that signed MoUs with the govt. in Aug’20 have so far initialed master agreements, paving the way for their discounted tariff of PKR 836Bn in next 10-12 years. 6 IPPs are still away in the wake of a dispute over resolution of excess profits of PKR 53Bn from initialing the master agreements legally binding contracts. The News-Sun. Pakistan’s exports to China up 41% in Dec Pakistan’s exports to China have crossed $ 312.33Mn in Dec’20 up 41% from $ 221Mn in Dec’19, shows the official data from Customs of China. Among the growth of trade in major products between the two countries, textiles, seafood and agricultural products have increased year on year, which has promoted Pakistan’s economic recovery and increased its exports to China. The Nation-Mon. Feb-21 Quote of the Day Marissa Mayer New Zealand (1st) Vietnam (2nd) Rwanda (6th) Australia (8th) Sri Lanka (10th) Maldives (25th) Japan (45th) UK (66th) Pakistan (69th) Bangladesh (84th) India (86th) USA (94th) Brazil (98th) Covid-19 Performance Index 4.3 0 24.9 24.3 17.3 20 37.5 36.9 40 50.1 60 61 80.8 77.9 76.8 80 The index ranks 98 countries based on performance in 6 indicators over time in managing the COVID-19 pandemic following their 100th confirmed case. 94.4 90.8 100 Source: KCCI Research; Lowy Institute Webinar on UAE’s Economy Business institutes and government departments are holding a webinar on UAE’s economy and its amended FDI law (100% foreign ownership). Members wishing to register may click the link for more info: https://bit.ly/2L4iEIM