Pakistan Daily Economy Update, 11-13 December

Transcription

1. Dec . 11 - 13, 2016 KCCI - eBulletin CPEC-related transport companies come under the spotlight’ The govt. is planning to revise regulatory regime for national/international companies engaged in cross-border transportation of goods to ensure harmonized and smooth operations of foreign companies under CPEC project. With the operationalization of the CPEC project and the TIR Convention, a sizeable number of foreign companies will be coming to Pakistan in the near future. In this regard, Communication Ministry has drafted enrolment procedure of national/international transport companies for international road transport operations. BR – Mon. OPEC, Non-OPEC agree first global oil pact since 2001 OPEC and Non-OPEC producers have reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices that overstretched many budgets and spurred unrest in some countries. OPEC has agreed to slash output by 1.2Mn barrels per day (bpd) from Jan. 1, 2017 with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486,000 bpd. The Non OPEC group has agreed to reduce output by 562,000 bpd, slightly short of the initial target of 600,000 bpd. Furthermore, OPEC would target an oil price of $ 60 per barrel as anything above that could encourage rival production. BR – Sun. Dollar shortage persists in open market The open market is facing a severe shortage of the dollar while currency dealers’ associations shy away from releasing the actual exchange rate, which is suspected to be above PKR 108. Despite several meetings between the finance ministry, central bank and currency dealers, dynamics of the exchange rate in the open market registered little change. Money changers have been issuing the exchange rate that is significantly less than the prevailing price of the greenback in the open market. The FAP-provided rate of the dollar was PKR 107.20-40, although the actual rate in different parts of the city was in the range of PKR 108-109. Dawn – Sun. ADB stalls $ 300Mn loan tranche over delayed reforms Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are likely to come under more strain in the coming months as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has delayed the approval of a 3rd loan tranche worth $ 300Mn for budget financing after the govt. put energy sector reforms on the backburner. The 3rd tranche was part of a five-year $ 1.6Bn package the ADB had approved to make the country’s energy sector sustainable and self-reliant. Due to non-implementation on most of the agreed prior actions, the ADB may not approve the loan in the near future. Tribune – Sun. Pakistani e-commerce expected to hit $ 1Bn by 2020 Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir has said that e-commerce in Pakistan is expected to hit the $ 1Bn mark by 2020. In seminar on Ecommerce organized by Pakistan, which was attended by a large number of World Trade Organization (WTO) members and ambassadors, he said the digital economy has emerged as an unstoppable giant that was growing at 10% a year, more than triple the rate of overall global economic growth. Tribune – Sun. Pak-Italy agree to boost trade, economic ties As many as 37 Italian businessmen had B2B meetings with their Pakistani counterparts and agreed to put joint ventures in place to boost mutual trade and economic ties. The businessmen, who were part of delegation, said that CPEC has caught the attention of the entire world and many countries are expressing the desire to be the part of this mega project. Tribune – Mon. 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 (FE'17) 12-Dec $/bbl 53.29 -1.19% Gold (JA'16) 12-Dec $/oz 1,162 0.27% 9-Dec PKR 42,857 0.60% 12-Dec $/oz 17.11 1.47% 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% Gold (10g) Local Silver (JA'17) 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 Amendments to Benami bill: SBP seeks to help protect banks through court firewall The SBP has proposed that any action under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill 2016 for obtaining bank record or entry and search of premises of a banking company or impounding of its record or conduct of an inquiry shall be subject to prior permission in writing of the special court. BR – Sun. 145 Rebasing of CPI, sampling for HIES: PBS seeks extension in World Bank project grant The govt. has sought extension from the World Bank (WB) in the project designed to help Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in rebasing of CPI as well as improving sampling for the Households Intergraded Economic Survey (HIES) and Population and Agricultural Censuses. The main reason behind seeking extension is the delay in the implementation of project which was due to be completed by the end of Dec.’16. BR – Sun. 105 Dar, French minister discuss economy Concluding his official visit to France, Finance Minister has met with French Finance Minister to discuss trade, economic and investment relations between the two countries. French Mininter appreciated Pakistan’s ratification of the OECD Convention on Mutual Assistance on Tax Matters.Dawn – Sun. GBP, 12-Dec-16, 132.3 135 125 115 EUR, 12-Dec-16, 111.0 USD, 12-Dec-16, 104.9 95 85 75 Dec-15 Mar-16 USD GBP Jun-16 Sep-16 Dec-16 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Quote of the Day Murad says Sindh ready for population census Chief Minister Sindh while inspecting ongoing development projects has said that his government was ready for a population census and had already told the federal government that it would completely support the exercise. He further said that various development schemes had been initiated in the city, including the work on 100MGD Dhabeji pumping. Dawn – Mon. “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” Policy options to bridge the tax revenue gap In a recent report, IMF has estimated a tax revenue gap of more than 11% of the country’s GDP, or PKR 3.3Tn. Tax capacity is about 22.3% whereas the tax-GDP ratio is 11.5%. The difference between actual ratio and the potential is the gap. Report highlighted that concessions and exemptions are the major factors contributing to the tax policy gap which results in substantial revenue losses. During FY‘16, revenue losses incurred on these counts stood at PKR 395Bn. The tax authorities are under immense pressure to achieve the revenue target of more than PKR 3.6Tn for the ongoing fiscal year. Dawn – Mon. Chart of the Day Richard Branson Remittances received by Pakistan (5MFY11 - 5MFY17) Rehabilitation of Guddu Barrage With the feasibility report now finalized, Guddu barrage’s rehabilitation will start with the bid award for construction. The total cost of project is estimated at PKR 20Bn. Guddu barrage being the first barrage over Indus River in Sindh is supposed to play a crucial role in managing normal river water flows, shortages and emergencies like floods. Dawn – Mon. 5MFY17 Merck asset sale completed Merck, a leading science and technology company has successfully completed the sale of its shareholding in Pakistan to Martin Dow Ltd, creating one of the leading pharmaceutical groups in the country. Companies would continue to be long-term strategic partners through license agreements. Dawn – Sun. 5MFY15 SECP sets up email account for financial statements SECP has designated an email account ‘financial.statements@secp.gov.pk’ for submission of quarterly accounts by shareholders in PDF, MS Word and Excel formats. In order to facilitate listed companies and to cut the cost of doing business, the Companies Ordinance 2016 has allowed transmission of quarterly accounts to shareholders by placing them on their websites. In line with the same principle, submission of quarterly accounts to the SECP could also be done electronically. Dawn – Sun. Sindh Govt. trying to bring back entertainment duty on cinema tickets Sindh government has initiated a move to revive the entertainment duty on cinema tickets suspended in 2000 on the directives of the then governor. The Excise and Taxation (E&T) department has put up the case with Sindh Chief Minister requesting him to undo the suspension order as the cinema industry business has improved a lot in the past 16 years. The entertainment duty rates for cinemas were revised in 2000 to PKR 2,000 per day on tickets sold for the AC class, PKR 1,000 for the upper-class and PKR 500 per day for ordinary class. Dawn – Mon. Pakistan’s first deep sea terminal project still not materialized The commercial operations at South Asia Pakistan Terminals (SAPT), Pakistan's first deep sea container terminal project, could not start even after the lapse of 6 years mainly due to lack of homework, including dredging, to be done by the concerned departments and inordinate delays in the project development have cost billions to the investors. SAPT terminal, is developed with an investment of $ 1.4Bn, a joint venture of KPT and Hutchinson Port Holdings Limited (HPH), the Hong Kong-based parent of SAPT. Daily Times – Mon. 7.87 5MFY16 8.07 7.53 5MFY14 6.41 5MFY13 5.98 5MFY12 5.24 5MFY11 4.43 0.00 2.00 4.00 Value in $ Bn 6.00 8.00 10.00 Source: KCCI Research, SBP 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