Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 10 December

Transcription

1. Dec . 10, 2016 KCCI - eBulletin Country’s biggest port starts test operations PDWCP the country’s biggest port, started test operations by accommodating the first container ship, APL Japan. The port, located at Keamari groyne east of Karachi Port, has the capacity to handle mother ships. The vessel came from Jebel Ali, a deep port located in Dubai, and will leave for China via Colombo Port, Sri Lanka which indicated that the port may play a major role in the CPEC. Under the first phase of development, the terminal operator, South Asia Pakistan Terminals (SAPT), has constructed berths No.3 and 4 while berths No. 1 and 2 would be taken up for completion under the second phase. Dawn. Pakistan all set to impose NTMs on Indonesia Pakistan is all set to impose Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on Indonesia on a reciprocal basis aimed at making palm oil’s import more restrictive. Pakistan signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in 2013 wherein Indonesia's exports to Pakistan were $ 936Mn which increased to $ 1.9Bn in 2015. On the other hand, Pakistan's exports to Indonesia showed a negative growth as exports dropped to $ 173Mn in 2015 from $ 273Mn in 2011 which implies that balance of trade thus was highly in favor of Indonesia. Indonesia got unrestricted market access for their big ticket items. However Pakistan has not been given un-restricted market access as its protectionist import policy, has successfully controlled the flow of imports from Pakistan by applying NTMs. The reciprocal measure from Pakistan may make import from Indonesia more cumbersome by making it compulsory to get Certificate of Origin attested from the embassy of Pakistan, Jakarta for palm oil and paper and paperboard. Additionally, mandatory Halal certification for import of palm oil would also add to their difficulties. BR. Remittances in November up 3.27% year-on-year SBP released data in which Pakistanis remitted $ 1,616Mn in Nov‘16, up a meagre 3.27% compared with the same month of the previous year. However, total remittances received by Pakistan during the first five months (Jul-Nov‘16) amounted to $ 7,874Mn, down 2.45% compared with $ 8,072Mn received during the same period of the preceding year. Tribune. PSX to sell 40% stake next week The Pakistan Stock Exchange is to sell 40% stake next week, citing Chinese and British consortia as among the prospective buyers. At least 17 entities have expressed their interest in the PSX, whose benchmark stock index has been one of the best performing indices worldwide this year, gaining 38% so far. Dawn. PKR 3.16Bn duty collected from HSD in 1QFY17 The govt. has collected custom duty of PKR 3.16Bn from High Speed Diesel (HSD) during the 1QFY17 followed by PKR 2.896Bn from furnace oil and PKR 1.11Bn collection from motor spirit. The highest collection on import duty from the POL product has been achieved due to tariff rationalization and elimination of 0% slab from Pakistan Customs Tariff. BR. FBR wing pursuing biggest money laundering case The DG of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue (IR) is strongly pursuing biggest money laundering case against Pakistan’s two businessmen of electronics, involving $ 94Mn, which resulted in bailable arrest warrants of both accused by Special Judge Customs, Taxation & Anti-Smuggling Karachi. Following detection of this mega money laundering case involving $ 94Mn transaction, the agency has is in the process of finalization of 3-4 other big cases of money laundering. BR. FBR, PRAs move to deduct GST on NTS fees The FBR, Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) and Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) have issued notices to National Testing Service-Pakistan (NTS), demanding deduction of sales tax, on behalf of the federal and provincial governments, from all candidates appearing in its tests. NTS has apprehended that the FBR's and provincial govt.'s move would result in an increase in the fee payable by the applicants by around 16%. BR. Efforts under way to join OECD Convention on Combating Bribery: Dar In a second meeting with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Secretary General in Paris, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has informed that Pakistan is currently working to meet the criteria and parameters of OECD to formally apply for accession to its Convention on Combating Bribery. He further said that the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters - which he signed on Sept. 14, 2016, has been ratified by the Pakistani Cabinet. BR. Economic Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily USD-Interbank List of Indicators 9-Dec PKR 104.78 0.03% USD-Open MKT 9-Dec PKR 107.30 0.19% KSE-100 index FIPI 9-Dec 9-Dec Pts. $ Mn 45,387 -0.94 1.44% NM** Crude (JA'17) 8-Dec $/bbl 49.90 -1.87% Gold (JA'16) 8-Dec $/oz 1,171 0.00% Gold (10g) Local 9-Dec PKR 42,857 0.60% Silver (JA'16) 8-Dec $/oz 17.18 1.00% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 9-Dec PKR 6,752 -2.10% Kibor-6M 9-Dec % 6.14% 0.01% Forex Reserves 2-Dec $ Bn 23.34 -1.10% Remittances Jul-Nov 16 $ Bn 7.87 -2.50% Exports* Jul-Oct 16 $ Bn 6.43 -6.60% Imports* Jul-Oct 16 $ Bn 15.75 8.01% Trade Balance* Jul-Oct 16 $ Bn -9.32 -21.07% Current Account Avg. CPI-FY17* Jul-Oct 16 Jul-Nov 16 $ Mn % -1,762 3.92 -63.45% WoW YoY Nov-16 Discount Rate % 5.75 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Major Currencies 175 165 155 145 125 115 ICI mulls acquiring some of Wyeth’s assets ICI Pakistan is considering the potential acquisition of certain assets of Wyeth Pakistan representing the life science business portfolio. The acquisition is subject to the completion of due diligence, execution of definitive agreements and receipt of regulatory approvals. Wyeth said the board had authorized the company to finalize the consideration and other terms of the asset sales transaction, including definitive transaction agreements with ICI Pakistan, which had shown interest in pursuing the transaction. Dawn. Agricultural commodities: SECP frames rules for electronic trading SECP has said that it is encouraging electronic trading in agricultural commodities through the platform of PMEX and has framed draft Collateral Management and Warehousing Regulations 2016 under the Companies Ordinance 2016. The key objective of electronic trading and warehouse receipt financing of agricultural commodities is to enable growers to get fair prices for their produce, financing facilities and promote an efficient payment system. Tribune. Govt to ease rules governing big contracts The government has planned to relax rules governing public procurement and the bidding process in a bid to award multibillion-rupee contracts without facing obstacles. The cabinet, in its meeting held on November 23, considered a proposal for amending the public procurement rules of 2004. It reviewed a summary submitted by the Cabinet Division for amendments and constituted a committee to make changes to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Ordinance 2002 and PPRA Rules 2004. Tribune. WB loan cancellation: SSGC’s version SSGC has said in its statement that news story that appeared in Dawn on under the headline of “World Bank cancels $100Mn loan”. SSGC said the World Bank loan amounted to only $ 40Mn for the Natural Gas Efficiency Project (NGEP), which was cancelled in May‘16. The rest of the amount was already cancelled in Apr‘15. One of the reasons for the cancellation of the loan was the World Bank’s stringent procurement requirements, it added. The original plan kept on changing after every visit of the WB mission to SSGC. Consequently, the procurement and disbursement plans were affected. Dawn. EUR, 8-Dec-16, 112.2 USD, 8-Dec-16, 104.6 105 95 85 75 Dec-15 USD Mar-16 GBP Jun-16 EUR Sep-16 Dec-16 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com Quote of the Day Govt released 12% funds for power projects in July-Nov Even though ending load-shedding is the government’s top priority, it has released just 12 per cent (PKR 15.7Bn against an annual allocation of PKR 130Bn) funds for power sector’s development projects out of the PSDP in the first 5MFY17. Government also released just PKR 6.2Bn for the development projects in the water sector against an annual allocation of PKR 31.7Bn, accounting for just 20%. Under the disbursement mechanism, it should release 20% funds each in first two quarters of a FY followed by 30% each in subsequent two quarters. Dawn. Iran urges Pakistan to quickly finalize FTA Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Mr. Mehdi urged Pakistan to step up efforts for early finalization of the FTA. He said that it is very unfortunate that trade with Pakistan is almost negligible, adding that Iran has $ 20Bn annual bilateral trade with Turkey and $50Bn with China. Pakistan has already sent the draft of the FTA to Tehran and is awaiting response. Both sides estimate to increase bilateral trade to $5Bn from the existing $1Bn in the next 5 years in the wake of the FTA. Dawn. GBP, 8-Dec-16, 132.1 135 Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing. Euripides Chart of the Day 46,000 KSE-100 Index 44,000 42,000 40,000 38,000 36,000 34,000 32,000 30,000 Source: KCCI Research, SCS Trade 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