Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 18 February

Transcription

1. February 18 , 2022 KCCI - eBulletin Tier-1 retailers: FBR unveils procedure for outlet sealing, de-sealing FBR will seal business premises of non-integrated Tier-1 retailers and big retailers, who will issue sales tax invoices, which do not carry the prescribed invoice number, barcode, QR code or bear duplicate invoice number/counterfeit barcode or QR code. FBR has issued the procedure for sealing and de-sealing of business premises of Tier-1 retailers. The Commissioner Inland Revenue, in whose territorial jurisdiction the business premises of Tier-1 retailer is located, may initiate proceedings. BR. CNG stations in Karachi shut down again According to SSGC, the closure of gas supply to the CNG stations is for 72 hours i.e. starting from 8am on Friday (18th Feb’22) to 8am Monday (21st Feb’22). The decision to suspend the gas supply to the CNG sector was due to the low pressure. BR. ECC okays PKR 12.3Bn subsidy for urea imports ECC has approved expanding the Kamyab Pakistan Program (KPP) throughout the country and also cleared a PKR 18Bn supplementary grant for Local Bodies’ elections. It also approved PKR 12.35Bn subsidy for import of about 100,000 tons of fertilizer to be shared on a 50:50 basis by the federal and the provincial govts. Dawn. Declarations thru PSW: FBR waives upfront duty, tax payment condition FBR has waived off the condition of upfront payment of duty and taxes in cases where the declaration is filed through the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) system. FBR has issued SRO250(I)/2022. BR. Services under ICT (Tax on Services) Ord: FBR rescinds 6 notifications on GST levy FBR has rescinded six notifications related to the levy of sales tax on different services under the ICT (Tax on Services) Ordinance, 2001 because the same services have been transposed to the Finance (Supplementary) Act, 2022 for the purpose of sales tax. FBR has issued SRO 231 (1)/2022 to rescind six notifications. In order to streamline and consolidate the taxable services and their chargeable rates under the ICT (Tax on Services) Ordinance, 2001, the existing Schedule was substituted as Table1 and a second Table was inserted incorporating the rates earlier notified through SROs at different timings. BR. GST on supplies: Charity hospitals suffer big setback Hospitals in Pakistan, especially those running on donations/charities have suffered the big setback due to levy of sales tax on supplies to hospitals affecting the operational cost of a hospital and medical treatment. A tax expert from Karachi has explained that the anomaly arises out of the levy of sales tax on supplies to hospitals providing treatment to the underprivileged class of the country. BR. K-Electric to refund PKR 3Bn to consumers Nepra has notified about PKR 2.60 per unit relief to consumers of K-Electric in next month’s bills on account of lower fuel cost in Dec’21. The authority has approved negative Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) of PKR 2.5953/kWh for Dec’21 having an impact of PKR 3.038Bn, to be passed on in the bills of Mar’22. Dawn. Retailers slam FBR for sealing premises Retailers has slammed FBR’s decision allowing field officers powers to seal an integrated retailer’s premises without even a show-cause notice. FBR has issued a new notification, which allows field officers to seal an integrated retailer’s premises without even a show-cause notice. The News. Senate clears new gas pricing mechanism The Senate has passed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Second Amendment) Bill, which will help the govt. implement the Weighted Average Cost of Gas (WACOG). The WACOG is a pricing mechanism that takes into account the blended costs of both indigenous and imported gas as opposed to the current pricing method, which ring-fences the use of imported fuel. The new legislation gives the gas sector’s regulator the right to revise the price of local and imported gas without giving notice to the public and without holding a public hearing. Currently, some domestic-sector consumers pay as low as PKR 120 a unit compared with the imported price of PKR 2,000. Dawn. NA panel approves PKR 172.17Bn budgetary proposals of PD National Assembly Standing Committee on Power has unanimously recommended budgetary proposals of Power Division and its attached departments amounting to PKR 172.17Bn for 101 schemes for FY23. The Committee, was informed that out of 101 schemes, 87 are ongoing whereas 14 are new. Most of the schemes/projects are related to transmission and distribution. A coal power plant of 1320-MW is also part of the development budget. BR. \ Foreign exchange: SBP reserves fall $ 241Mn to $ 17.09Bn On 11th Feb’22, foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $ 17.096Bn, down $ 241Mn compared with $ 17.337Bn on 4th Feb’22. Net reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $ 6.39Bn. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country stood at $ 23.49Bn. Tribune. IMF program aims to promote macroeconomic stability: official Resident Representative of the IMF to Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, has said that the IMF program is aimed to promote macroeconomic stability in Pakistan and will promote sustainable and comprehensive policy growth in Pakistan. BR. PM Imran launches portal to register complaints about scholarships PM Imran Khan has once again criticized the 18th Amendment, alleging that it has messed up the process of granting educational scholarships to deserving students. He was addressing the launching ceremony of a portal at which complaints relating to educational scholarships could be registered at the PM Office. Linked with the PM’s Citizen Portal, the facility would help scholarship holders to register their complaints regarding problems faced by them, besides ensuring the judicious use of allocated resources. Dawn. FDI grows 11% to $ 1.17Bn in Jul-Jan FY22 China and USA, the two leading global economies, emerged as the largest foreign investors in Pakistan during the 7MFY22. The flow of FDI into Pakistan increased 11.3% to $ 1.17Bn in 7MFY22 compared to $ 1.05Bn in 7MFY21. In Jan’22, inflow of FDI dropped 35% on a year-on-year basis and 50% on a month-on-month basis. FDI stood at $ 168.3Mn in Jan’22 and $ 218.7Mn in Dec’21. Tribune. LSM expands 16.7% in December The country’s large-scale manufacturing—such as the production of textiles, autos and medicines—grew 16.7% month-on-month in Dec’21 with the base year 2005-06. However, the growth came in at 3.8% in Dec’21 as compared with Dec’20. During 6MFY22, large-scale manufacturing grew 3.4% compared to 6MFY21. The sectors whose production rose during 6MFY22 included textiles (1.1%); food, beverages and tobacco (3.1%) and chemicals (5.4%) among others. Commodities whose production went down included non-metallic mineral products (-0.5%), pharmaceuticals (-0.7%) and non-metallic mineral products (-0.6%) among others. Dawn. Bill Gates lauds Pakistan’s ‘inspiring’ efforts to end polio Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates had a chock-a-block schedule on Thursday (17th Feb’22) during his first trip to the country that included meetings with the prime minister, the president and other national and provincial leaders. He also visited the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) and chaired a meeting of the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) on polio. While calling Pakistan’s commitment to ending polio inspiring, he said the country was near the end-game against the disease. Dawn. List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT 17-Feb 17-Feb PKR PKR 175.39 176.80 -0.16% -0.23% KSE-100 index FIPI 17-Feb 17-Feb Pts. $ Mn 45,441 0.34 -0.53% NM** Crude Oil 17-Feb $/bbl 91.76 -2.03% Gold 17-Feb $/oz 1,902.0 1.63% Gold (10g) Local 17-Feb PKR 107,680 0.00% Silver 17-Feb $/oz 23.92 1.13% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 17-Feb PKR 0 -100.00% Kibor-6M 17-Feb % 10.82 0.01% Forex Reserves 11-Feb $ Bn 23.49 WoW -0.97% Remittances Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 17.95 8.95% Exports* Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 17.67 23.96% Imports* Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 46.47 58.84% Trade Balance* Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn -28.80 -91.97% Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. Jul-Dec 21 Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn $ Bn -9.09 1.17 -829.11% 11.32% YoY Jul-Dec 21 LSM Growth* % 3.40 % 10.26 Jul-Jan 22 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 9.75 Jan-22 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful, WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Major Currencies 255 245 235 225 215 205 195 185 175 165 155 145 Feb-21 GBP, 17-Feb-22, 239.3 EUR, 17-Feb-22, 199.0 USD, 17-Feb-22, 176.8 USD May-21 GBP Aug-21 EUR Nov-21 Feb-22 Source: KCCI Research Quote of the Day “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow” Ingvar Kamprad Pakistan’s Import of Petroleum Items in 7M-FY22 ($ Mn) Petroleum Crude, 2,795.87, Liquefied Natural Gas, 2,769.74, 24% 24% Total $ 11,696 Mn Liquefied Petroleum Gas, 395.98, 3% Others, 0.18, 0% Petroleum Products, 5,734.24, 49% Source: KCCI Research; PBS Note Smeda has invited applications for Growth Stage Start-up grants to provide financial support to entrepreneurs to meet capital or operating needs. The maximum grant size is of PKR 500,000 or 80% 80% of population suffering from helicobacter pylori infection: PMA Dr. Qaisar Sajjad, Hon Secretary General Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), has said that some 80% of the population is suffering from of the total cost of goods / services. Please visit helicobacter pylorus which is the main reason for stomach diseases in Pakistan. BR. http://nbdp.org.pk/nbdp_grants.php