Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 08 December

Transcription

1. Dec . 8, 2017 KCCI - eBulletin GSP Plus scheme: UK promises to extend support UK has reportedly promised to extend support to Pakistan in the EU at second biennial review of the GSP Plus scheme due in Jan.’18. The consensus has been evolved at a meeting between Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik and the visiting London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Although Pakistan has made huge progress in the implementation of EURA which is duly recognized by the EU, yet Greece, France, Italy and Spain continue to raise concerns regarding this issue. Pakistan is of the view that its competitors like Bangladesh continues to enjoy duty free access, Turkey also has duty free access to the EU; Vietnam has just concluded its FTA while negotiations between the EU and India are already underway. BR. London mayor urges closer economic partnership with Pakistan Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has invited Pakistan to take advantage of favorable business opportunities in the UK. Accompanied by a 25-member delegation, including business and media persons, the mayor is on his first visit to Pakistan after assuming office in May’16. The offer came from the visiting mayor during a meeting with PM Abbasi. Mr Khan said it is UK’s objective to develop closer economic partnerships with all countries, especially those in the Commonwealth. Dawn. FBR moving summary on recently-imposed RD In a meeting of the Senate’s Finance Standing Committee presided over by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, FBR has informed that a summary is being prepared in consultation with stakeholders on recently imposed Regulatory Duty to discourage imports and generate financing for export package. In the meeting, Director General Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) also informed the committee that rupee and dollar denominated bond will be launched for overseas Pakistanis. The expatriates in Gulf countries would be first ones to be offered and investment by them is expected to be around $ 550Mn to $ 1.2Bn. BR. Textile exporters’ demand supply of system gas to textile industry Pakistan’s textile exporters have expressed grave concern over suspension of system gas under quota regime and supply of high priced RLNG to export oriented textile industries in Punjab. Quoting the gas tariffs within the region, exporters said that gas price in Bangladesh is $ 3/mmbtu, in Vietnam it is $ 4.2/mmbtu, in India it is $ 4.5/mmbtu; whereas in Pakistan system gas is available at $ 7.6/mmbtu and now RLNG would cost at $ 11/mmbtu. The exporters have condemned the govt.'s indifferent attitude and said that this would further add to the high cost of doing business and would hamper the country’s export growth. The Nation. Pakistan's exchange rate facing risks, UN body warns A United Nations report has warned that the government’s policy of keeping the exchange rate stable by intervening in the foreign exchange market may become unsustainable if the US dollar appreciates against most major currencies in global markets. The stable exchange rate may be encouraging for some investors and traders, but the report warns that it is draining precious foreign exchange reserves. The report is the ‘yearend update’ of the flagship Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific 2017 released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Dawn. SRB urged to review 10% GST on security agencies The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has advised Sindh Revenue Board to review 10% sales tax imposed on security agencies to reduce expenses of the industry. KCCI President Muffasar Atta Malik held a meeting with the All Pakistan Security Agency Services to discuss the problems being faced by the industry. Malik said that the issue had been discussed earlier during the last visit of the Sindh CM to KCCI who directed the SRB chairman to discuss the same with the relevant stakeholders, but unfortunately, no meeting was carried out. The News. FBR to clear PKR 6Bn in five-year-old sales tax refunds FBR has decided to clear stuck sales tax refunds of around 6Bn rupees pending for the last 5 years because of incomplete documents. The officials said the FBR will resolve deferred cases for which processing was stopped due to technical reasons, such as non-availability of supporting documents necessary to issue refunds. The News. Govt likely to allow private sector to supply RLNG Government is mulling to authorize private sector to directly supply RLNG to consumers as multiple suppliers can increase gas supplies nationwide. LNG supplies broadly require well-defined gas market, access to transportation and effective regulatory framework. The private businesses will have access to transportation system to supply RLNG. The News. KWSB yet to recover PKR 65.13Bn under the head of water dues The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) after becoming an independent entity in 1996 has failed in collecting water dues from all tiers of consumers. Till November 2017, around PKR 65.13Bn have been accumulated as water dues on more than 1.3Mn consumers out of registered 1.84Mn consumers with the entity. Around 1.5Mn retail and commercial consumers are under debt of PKR 22.77Bn water dues and 6,822 bulk consumers have defaulted on PKR 42Bn. Besides, millions of population of 574 katchi abadis and 1,149 Gothabad areas are also not paying water dues and also have illegal water connections under the nose of water civic entity. Several attempts and schemes launched by civic entity for collection of water dues during 19 years had gone in waste due to inefficiency and corrupt practices of its water management and billing \ responsible. Daily Times. Economic Indicators List of Indicators Five SME projects worth PKR 3.2Bn approved The government has granted approval to five new development projects proposed by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) under PSDP 2017-18, which will cost about PKR 3.2 Bn. The projects include National Business Development Programme for SMEs across the country, Product Development Centre for Composite-based Sports Goods (Sialkot), Fruits, Vegetables and Condiments Processing Centre (Naushehro Feroz), Fruit Dehydration Unit (Swat) and Business Skill Development Centres for Women at various locations. Tribune. PGPC terminal to recommence gas supplies to system today Pakistan's second LNG import terminal, established by Pakistan GasPort Consortium Ltd. (PGPC) at Port Qasim, Karachi is to recommence gas supplies to the national system by the evening of Dec. 8, 2017 (today). Operations at the recently inaugurated terminal had been suspended for a few days after a leak developed in an insulation joint connecting the PGPC system to the connecting pipeline infrastructure. BR. $ 2.5Bn Sukuk, Eurobond proceeds reserves receive a boost After successful transaction, Pakistan has received $ 2.5Bn proceeds on Dec. 5, 2017 from sovereign bonds and International Sukuk, recently auctioned in the international market. In the last week of Nov.’17. The country has raised some $ 1.5Bn through sale of 10-year Eurobond at 6.875%, while, an amount of $ 1Bn has been generated against sale of 5-year Sukuk at 5.625%. BR. Foreign reserves reach $ 18.7Bn The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $ 18.74Bn on Nov. 30, 2017 as against $ 19.69Bn held a week earlier. During the week under review, foreign reserves held by the SBP decreased by $ 887Mn to $ 12.66Bn from $ 13.55Bn. The reserves held by the commercial banks stood at $ 6.08Bn compared to $ 6.15Bn in a preceding week. The Nation. Unit Value Change Daily 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec 7-Dec PKR PKR Pts. $ Mn $/bbl $/oz PKR $/oz PKR % 105.54 107.40 38,785 1.30 56.65 1,246.6 45,771 15.67 7,073 6.20% -0.01% 0.00% -2.81% NM** 1.27% -1.43% -0.74% -1.63% 0.00% 0.00% WoW -4.85% YoY 2.27% 10.04% 22.55% -31.24% -121.91% 74.44% Crude (JA'18) Gold (JA'18) Gold (10g) Local Silver (JA'18) Cotton(KHI)-40 kg Kibor-6M Forex Reserves $ Bn 18.74 30-Nov FY18 Jul-Oct 17 Remittances $ Bn 6.44 Jul-Oct 17 Exports* $ Bn 7.06 Jul-Oct 17 Imports* $ Bn 19.19 Jul-Oct 17 Trade Balance* $ Bn -12.13 Jul-Oct 17 Current Account $ Mn -5,013 Foreign Direct Inv. $ Bn 0.94 Jul-Oct 17 Jul-Sep 17 LSM Growth* % 8.36 % 3.59 Jul-Nov 17 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 5.75 Sep-17 WoW= week Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful on week; Major Currencies 155 GBP, 7-Dec-17, 141.4 145 135 125 EUR, 7-Dec-17, 124.3 115 105 95 Dec-16 USD Mar-17 GBP EUR Jun-17 Sep-17 USD, 7-Dec-17, 105.4 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com Quote of the Day "Conventional wisdom leads to mediocrity." Sam Zell More details of 7th JCC meeting on CPEC trickle out China has shared a full list of the various projects and agreements finalized and discussed during the 7th JCC meeting held in Islamabad between 21st & 22nd Nov17. A total of six documents were signed, including the Long Term Plan for CPEC which is to run from 2017 till 2030. In addition, minutes of the 7th JCC were also approved by both sides, as well as those from the meeting of the Joint Working Groups on Gwadar, Energy and Industrial Parks. Implementation minutes on New Gwadar International Airport were also finalized. Dawn. SBP calls for banks to accelerate adoption of PayPak cards SBP Deputy Governor Jameel Ahmad has emphasised the need for the adoption of domestic payment scheme, PayPak card, by banks in order to provide cost effective, ubiquitous and digital payment instrument to consumers. While addressing a meeting, he advised banks to step up efforts for rationalising the cost of digital transactions by reviewing merchant discount rate, increasing access points, and ensuring the safety and security of payment instruments to safeguard consumers’ money. Daily Times. Date / Period USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT KSE-100 index FIPI Chart of the Day FBR's Direct & Indirect Tax Collection (1QFY13 - 1QFY18) 477.9 500.0 450.0 400.0 350.0 300.0 334.2 150.0 393.4 286.9 286.6 250.0 200.0 360.5 348.1 136.5 160.8 239.7 231.6 1QFY16 1QFY17 189.7 100.0 50.0 0.0 1QFY13 1QFY14 1QFY15 Direct Taxes (PKR Bn) 1QFY18 Indirect Taxes (PKR Bn) Source: KCCI Research, MoF 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. icon represents the sole viewpoint of the KCCI R&D Cell, and is stated to enrich the readers' understanding of the news item. The R&D Dept. bears no responsibility for its correctness or accuracy. Contact: res@kcci.com.pk