Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 1 February

Transcription

1. Feb . 01, 2018 KCCI - eBulletin BTB initiative: FBR issues 33,000 notices to high value individuals FBR has issued 33,000 notices to high value unregistered individuals to bring them in the tax net for broadening of tax base (BTB). FBR has started mapping of plazas in the federal capital, which have been constructed during the last ten years, to ascertain whether the owners are registered or unregistered taxpayers. The FBR's focus is on high value unregistered individuals and so far mapping of 450 plazas in the federal capital has been completed. The mapping of plazas will be followed by the mapping of housing societies to identify high value unregistered individuals. BR. FBR collects over PKR 2Tn in seven months FBR has recorded provisional net revenue collection of over PKR 2Tn during 7MFY18 against PKR 1.70Tn collected during 7MFY17, recording an increase of more than PKR 300Bn. The provisional collection for Jan.’18 stood at PKR 272Bn as against PKR 228Bn collected during Jan.’17 showing an increase by more than 19%. The increase is despite issuing PKR 3Bn more tax refunds in Jan.’18 as compared to refunds issued during Jan.’17. BR. Prices of HSD, other POL products raised The govt. has increased prices of petroleum products ranging between PKR 2.98 and PKR 5.93 for Feb.’18. FBR has estimated to collect over PKR 30Bn from this increase. The govt. has increased price of petrol by PKR 2.98/liter from existing PKR 81.53 to PKR 84.51, High Speed Diesel (HSD) price by PKR 5.92 to PKR 95.83 from PKR 89.91 and kerosene oil price by PKR 5.94 from PKR 64.32 to PKR 70.26. The price of Light diesel oil (LDO) has soared by PKR 5.93 from PKR 58.37 to PKR 64.30. BR. KCCI greets decision to withdraw hike in trade license fee President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Muffasar Atta Malik, while referring to the assurance given by Chairman DMC South Malik Mohammad Fayyaz, to withdraw the hike in Trade License Fee during his recent visit to KCCI, hoped that the relevant notification, implemented from Jan. 3, 2018 will be issued soon. The President said that KCCI is the first one to raise this pressing issue and it is really encouraging to see that Chairman DMC South responded to the grievances being faced by small traders and shopkeepers. BR. Used imported cars: ministries differ over bill of lading date Commerce and Finance Ministry are reportedly not on the same page with respect to bill of lading date for three-year used cars imported after amendment in Import Policy Order (IPO). On Oct. 6, 2017, ECC approved that for all vehicles to be imported under transfer of residence, personal baggage or under gift scheme, duty and taxes will be paid out of foreign exchange arranged by Pakistani nationals themselves or local recipients supported by bank encashment certificate. BR. SBP asks ECs to reduce interbank-open market gap SBP has asked Exchange Companies (ECs) to reduce the rising exchange rate gap in interbank and open currency market to 1%. Recently, exchange rate in the open currency markets surged to PKR 112.70 to the dollar, which is some PKR 2.10 higher than interbank market. The SBP had already withdrawn restriction on cash import of dollar. Despite lifting of 35% cash import condition on dollar import, the exchange rate in open currency market is still volatile. BR. Amendments rescue govt. despite breach of fiscal deficit, debt laws The Govt.’s smart moves to amend fiscal laws saved the skin of the finance ministry from its otherwise repeated aberration of annual budget deficit and debt targets over the last couple of years. Since the parliament passed FRDLA in FY07, majority of envisaged targets in terms of restricting the budget deficit and cutting debt were missed every year. However, the present govt. approved repeated amendments into FRDLA and brought changes in all the indicators and targets related to public debt and fiscal deficit. The News. Economic Indicators List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily 31-Jan 110.50 112.35 0.00% -0.09% Crude (MA'18) 31-Jan 31-Jan 31-Jan 31-Jan PKR PKR Pts. $ Mn $/bbl 44,049 -5.11 64.91 -0.42% NM** 0.85% Gold (MA'18) Gold (10g) Local 31-Jan 31-Jan $/oz PKR 1,346.0 48,685 0.65% 0.00% Silver (MA'18) Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 31-Jan 31-Jan $/oz PKR 17.30 7,823 1.25% -1.36% Kibor-6M 31-Jan % 6.43 $ Bn 19.64 0.01% WoW -0.66% Remittances 19-Jan FY18 Jul-Dec 17 $ Bn 9.74 YoY 2.51% Exports* Imports* Jul-Dec 17 Jul-Dec 17 $ Bn $ Bn 11.01 28.97 11.27% 19.11% Jul-Dec 17 Trade Balance* $ Bn -17.96 Jul-Dec 17 Current Account $ Mn -7,413 Foreign Direct Inv. $ Bn 1.38 Jul-Dec 17 Jul-Nov 17 LSM Growth* % 7.19 % 3.75 Jul-Dec 17 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 6.00 Jan-18 WoW= Sources: KCCI Research, PMEXweek , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful on week; -24.48% -59.08% -2.81% USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT KSE-100 index FIPI Forex Reserves Major Currencies 165 145 135 115 105 95 Feb-17 European bank keen to finance energy projects European Union (EU) will assist Pakistan in energy conservation and in this respect the European Investment Bank is keen to finance energy projects in the country. This was stated by, EU Ambassador Jean Francois Cautain in a meeting with Minister for Power Division Awais Leghari. The News. USD, 31-Jan-18, 110.7 May-17 GBP USD EUR Aug-17 Nov-17 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com Quote of the Day 'We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.'' Milton Friedman FBR recovers PKR 2.34Bn unpaid withholding taxes The FBR has recovered around PKR 2.34Bn through freezing of bank accounts of two telecom operators that failed to deposit wht collected from the consumers to national exchequer. Telecom companies collect withholding income tax from consumers on usage of services and are required to deposit the collection in the FBR accounts within a stipulated time. The News. Telecom projects suffer as levies raise cost of imported optical fiber The telecom sector said that its ongoing and future fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure projects across the country hang in the balance due to a recent levy of 20% RD which has blown up the cost of imported optical fiber by up to 107%. Currently the import of the optical fiber carried a 20% RD, 20% CD, 17% sales tax, 3% value added tax, and 5.5% advance tax that is not adjustable. The News. EUR, 31-Jan-18, 133.0 125 SBP chief hopes to achieve PKR 1Tn agri credit target SBP Governor Tariq Bajwa has expressed hope to achieve agriculture loan target of PKR 1Tn set for FY18 as banks disbursed PKR 432Bn in 1HFY18. Presiding over the mid-term review meeting of the Agricultural Credit Advisory Committee (ACAC), the Governor also appreciated the increase in agri-credit borrowers of banks by 182,000, mainly due to inclusion of borrowers by \ the microfinance banks. Dawn. Technical issues behind PKR 213Bn line losses Power consumers are paying a heavy price for the negligence of distribution companies as the line losses for the last one year reached PKR 213Bn. Giving a presentation to the Public Accounts Committee, the MD of Pepco disclosed that technical issues as well as electricity theft are the main reasons for line losses, though he stressed that the system suffers more from technical issues rather than theft. The meeting informed the meeting that Nepra had set a threshold of 16.5% line losses whereas at present the system is suffering 17.6% losses. Dawn. GBP, 31-Jan-18, 156.9 155 Chart of the Day Petroleum Group Imports by Pakistan 16 14 106 106 12 120 15 14 12 100 11 10 72 80 8 6 8 6 41 4 55 48 40 20 2 - 60 FY13 FY14 FY15 Petroleum Group Imports ($ Bn) FY16 FY17 1HFY18 - Crude Oil Dubai ($/bbl) Source: KCCI Research, SBP, WB Disclaimer SBP sells PKR 1.13Bn worth of T-bills This report has been prepared by KCCI Research & Development Cell. The information contained The central bank sold PKR 1.13Bn worth of 3-month market treasury bills in the latest auction with yield on the paper going herein have been compiled or arrived at based upon information obtained from sources believed to up, while no bids were received for other tenors. The yield on the 3-month T-bills edged up to 6.21% from 5.99% in the be reliable and in good faith. Such information has not been independently verified. previous auction held on 17th Jan’18. On the other hand, banks did not offer bids for the 6- and 12-month T-bills. The News. 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