Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 15 January

Transcription

1. Jan 15 , 2021 KCCI - eBulletin Petrol, diesel prices likely to go further up The govt. is likely to increase the prices of key petroleum products for next 16 days by about PKR 5 per litre. Ogra has worked out about PKR 99.50 per litre increase in the price of petrol and HSD for 16th – 31st’21. The impact of increase in oil price in international market over the last 15 days was about PKR 3.50 per litre on petrol and about PKR 2.10 per litre on HSD. Dawn. Govt avoids making power tariff hike announcement The federal govt. has reportedly decided to increase base tariff of Discos approximately by PKR 1.90 per unit across the board except lifeline consumers on the demand of IMF. Nepra has determined an increase of PKR 3.34 per unit or 22.3% to recover over PKR 300Bn from consumers, but the govt. has decided to pass on almost 60% of the proposed increase. The impact of increase has been calculated at PKR 175Bn. However, the govt. will allocate additional subsidy of PKR 20Bn. BR. Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT 14-Jan 14-Jan PKR PKR 160.18 160.15 -0.10% -0.12% KSE-100 index FIPI 14-Jan 14-Jan Pts. $ Mn 45,989 -0.94 -0.22% NM** Crude (AP'19) 14-Jan $/bbl 53.57 1.25% Gold (MA'19) 14-Jan $/oz 1,851.4 -0.19% Gold (10g) Local 14-Jan PKR 98,000 0.00% CCoE accords approval to CTBCM plan The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) gave approval to a detailed design and implementation plan of the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) to make the competitive Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) operational in Pakistan by Apr’22. The Power Division briefed the committee that in the first phase, the consumers with a load of 1MW or above will participate in the competitive market. BR. Silver (MA'19) 14-Jan $/oz 25.80 0.90% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 14-Jan PKR 11,467 0.94% Kibor-6M 14-Jan % 7.35 0.00% FBR agrees to return PKR 1Bn to Sindh in tax controversy FBR has agreed to return PKR 1Bn deducted from the Sindh treasury, making the provincial govt. pliant to resume collection of withholding tax on motor vehicle registration after 3-month break. The News. Forex Reserves 8-Jan $ Bn 20.52 WoW 0.03% 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-Nov 20 Jul-Nov 20 $ Bn $ Bn 1.64 0.72 193.98% -18.87% FBR decides to draft ‘Inland Revenue Codes’ FBR has decided to draft "Inland Revenue Codes" i.e. simple version of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, the Sales Tax Act 1990, and the Federal Excise Act 2005, for better understanding of the general public. The FBR considered hiring a consultant/expert for drafting the "Inland Revenue Codes" for the FBR. BR. Senate body told: 12 importers behind July ‘artificial’ oil shortage The Senate Standing Committee on Interior was informed that top 12 “oil importers” were involved in creating “artificial” oil shortage, and made illegal money in connivance with some govt. functionaries. The committee was given a detailed briefing by the additional director general FIA and the secretary petroleum, on the artificial shortage of oil with reference to the failure of the concerned departments to control corruption, and hoarding by the oil marketing companies (OMCs), which has caused inconvenience and unrest all over the country in Jul’20. BR. Provisional licenses of virtual LNG pipelines granted Ogra has granted provisional licenses of virtual Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipelines to two private companies — Daewoo Gas and LNG Easy — for supply of the fuel through bowsers to consumers outside the gas network. The licenses would be valid for one year. These would be first of its kind projects in Pakistan to facilitate the supply of natural gas mainly to off-grid consumers. Dawn. 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 235 215 Sindh demands ban on tomato import The govt. of Sindh has requested the centre to ban import of tomato and encourage export of onion to facilitate local growers and farmers of Sindh in particular. The province managed to produce a bumper crop of onion and tomato. Tribune. 165 SBCA told to submit report on amendments in building regulations Director General of the Sindh Building Control Authority has been ordered to submit a progress report with regard to the amendments in the regulations for the purpose of granting NOCs to high-rises in Karachi. The News. Japan takes measures to curb illegal car trade in Pakistan Japanese govt. has swung into action to crack down on clearance of imported cars on forged and fake documents in Pakistan. Pakistan Customs in Karachi recently unearthed frauds regarding clearance of used-vehicles on the basis of fake/forged documents and in response to the increasing agitation among the Pakistani business community in Japan. The News. Covid-19: China stops PIA flights for three weeks PIA has halted flights to China in the wake of the second wave of coronavirus in China. The flights were cancelled after 10 Pakistani passengers tested positive for Covid-19. China has also imposed a temporary travel ban on Pakistani passengers. PIA operates two weekly flights to China. The News. Govt raises PKR 75.43Bn via fixed, variable rates Govt. has raised PKR 75.43Bn through the auction of five-year fixed and variable rental rates Govt. of Pakistan Ijara Sukuk, in a bid to help finance the budget deficit. The cut off fixed rental rate was 9.45%. The News. SECP issues market liberalisation draft SECP has issued draft self-Regulatory Organizations Regulations, 2021 for soliciting public comments. These transformational regulations, being introduced under the SECP Act 1997, are intended to promote the establishment of SROs, to inculcate self-discipline and collective responsibility among the market players, to enhancing investors’ confidence. The draft has been placed on the SECP’s website. Interested entities, stakeholders, and the general public can submit their comments on the draft within 30 days. The News. TDAP’s orientation session in Feb TDAP has arranged an orientation session with leading textile companies of Pakistan and sponsors of the first Virtual Texpo from 1st to 15th Feb’21. Sponsors were given orientation about Virtual Texpo-2021 platform, how it works, and what are distinguished features to interact with the international buyers invited by the trade and investment officers of Pakistan from different countries in the world. Online registration for the exhibitors will start on 15th Jan’20. The News. SBP reserves fall $ 12Mn to $ 13.4Bn On 8th Jan’21, foreign currency reserves held by SBP were recorded at $ 13.4Bn, down $ 12Mn compared with $ 13.4Bn in the previous week. The central bank gave no reason for the decrease. Net reserves held by commercial banks stood at $ 7.1Bn while overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country were recorded at $ 20.5Bn. Tribune. World facing ‘catastrophic’ temperature rises: UN The world is on course for a “catastrophic” temperature rise this century, the United Nations said it confirmed that 2020 rivalled 2016 as the hottest year on record. The relentless pace of climate change is destroying lives, as the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said 2011-2020 had been the warmest decade recorded. BR. GBP, 14-Jan-21, 219.1 225 Sindh seeks federal approval for five wind power projects Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh has urged his federal counterpart Omar Ayub to ensure issuance of notification for five wind power projects, to be installed by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the province, to encourage investors and promote clean power industry. He said that a delegation of local and foreign investors had contacted Sindh’s department of energy for investment. The wind power projects awaiting tariff included; Norinco International Thatta Power, Iran-Pak Wind Power, Sino Well, Shafi Energy and Moro Power Company. Dawn. Taxes stuck in litigation rise 38% The disputed tax amount stuck in litigation has shot up 38% in two years to nearly PKR 1.8Tn amid questions over govt.’s priorities. The composition of appellate tribunal benches remains incomplete while authorities pay too little to the lawyers engaged to defend the cases. The lawyers’ fee is still capped at a maximum PKR 600,000 per case for a lawyer appearing before the Supreme Court. At end-Dec’20, PKR 1.77Tn was stuck in litigation, up from nearly PKR 1.3Tn over two years ago. Tribune. \ Economic Indicators List of Indicators 205 195 EUR, 14-Jan-21, 194.9 185 175 155 145 USD Jan-20 GBP Apr-20 USD, 14-Jan-21, 160.4 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Jul-20 Oct-20 Jan-21 Quote of the Day “Motivation may be what starts you off, but it’s habit that keeps you going back for more.” Miya Yamanouchi Crime Index of Selected Cities (As on 14th Jan'21) Ranking Caracas, Venezuela (1st) 84.7 Rio deJaneiro,Brazil (10th) 77.5 Dhaka, Bangladesh (41st) 64.9 Delhi, India (77th) 59.2 Karachi, Pakistan (107th) 54.5 London, UK (125th) 52.8 New York, US (178th) 47.0 Berlin, Germany (237th) 41.4 Beijing, China (311st) 33.9 Sydney, Australia (314th) 33.7 Abu Dhabi, UAE (440th) 11.5 0.0 20.0 *Ranking out of 440 Cities of the World * High ranking (1st) indicates high rate of crime 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 Source: KCCI Research, Numbeo Disclaimer This report has been prepared by KCCI Research & Development Cell. The information contained herein have been compiled or arrived at based upon information obtained from sources believed to be reliable and in good faith. Such information has not been independently verified.