Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 11 May

Transcription

1. May . 11, 2017 KCCI - eBulletin Trade deficit swells to historic $ 26.6Bn Pakistan has experienced highest ever trade imbalance during 10MFY17 which has widened by 40% to historic level of $ 26.6Bn from $ 18.95Bn during 10MFY16. The imports have increased by 19.88% to $ 43.47Bn during period under review from $ 36.7Bn last year. However, exports tumbled by 2.29% to $ 16.92Bn from $ earlier 17.31Bn. Month-on-month exports enhanced by 5.19% to $1.81Bn in Apr.’17 from $ 1.72Bn of Apr.’16. Similarly, imports also recorded an increase of 30.88% and reached $ 5Bn in Apr.’17 from $ 3.82Bn in the same period last year. Therefore, trade deficit was recorded at $ 3.19Bn in Apr.’17 as against $ 2.11Bn, showing a growth of 51.69%. The Nation. 4% of global trade to pass through CPEC by 2020 Pakistan’s chief economist at the Planning Ministry, Nadeem Javaid, has said that Pakistan’s debt and other payments on China’s “Belt and Road” initiative will peak at around $ 5Bn in 2022, but will be more than offset by transit fees charged on the new transport corridor. He further said that Pakistani system will gain kind of toll tax and rental fees of roughly $6-$8Bn a year. He said that Gwadar Xinjiang corridor should be completed by Jun'18.Debt repayments and profit repatriation from CPEC projects will begin in 2019, totalling about $ 1.5 - $ 1.9Bn, and rising to $ 3 - $ 3.5Bn by the following year. Dawn/BR. SBP eases foreign currency trade loans policy In order to facilitate exporters, the SBP has relaxed the existing policy regarding settlement of outstanding loans against exports by delegating powers to authorized dealers, to settle outstanding export loans valuing up to $ 50,000 (or equivalent in other foreign currencies) through interbank market. The settlement of outstanding loans exceeding the above limit shall however, require prior approval of the State Bank. The News. Govt. to set up Pakistan Infrastructure Bank: Dar In a meeting with IFC’s Vice President of Portfolio Management, Saran Kebet-Koulibaly, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the govt. is establishing Pakistan Infrastructure Bank (PIB) that would complement the govt.’s infrastructure initiatives by enhancing financing and investment for infrastructure projects in the country. He further said that govt. of Pakistan and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have agreed, in principle, to set up the proposed Pakistan Infrastructure Bank (PIB), with 20% equity stake each. The minister also highlighted the partnership between Pakistan govt., KfW and DFID in the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company (PMIC), which has been established recently. The Nation. Remittances down 2.79% in 10 months The remittances sent home by overseas Pakistani workers declined 2.79% to $ 15.59Bn in 10MFY17 as compared to $ 16.04Bn during 10MFY16. According to the SBP, that inflow of remittances from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan decreased 6.62% to $ 4.51Bn, while remittances from UAE also fell 2.29% to stand at $ 3.46Bn. Tribune. Pak-Turkey FTA to be signed on Aug 14 Pakistan-Turkey FTA will be signed on 14th Aug’17. The seventh round of negotiations on the FTA will be held by the end May’17 in Turkey to finalize the agreement. The two sides will exchange provisional lists for the final agreement in the upcoming round of dialogue. Pakistan is expected to get some advantage in agriculture and pharmaceutical sectors. Pakistan’s major imports from Turkey include manmade textiles, towels, steel structure, tanning, plastic chemicals and processed milk. Exports to Turkey are ethanol, cotton yarn, fabric, rice, garments, leather, carpets, surgical instruments, sports goods and chemicals. Dawn. Power sector receivables still hover around PKR 684Bn Power sector receivables hovered around PKR 684Bn as of Mar. 31, 2017 even after PKR 44Bn written off by Sindh govt. with the special effort of then Secretary Water & Power Ministry. The major defaulter is private sector as its default amount stood at PKR 505.5Bn on Mar. 31, 2017 as against PKR 468.7Bn till Jun. 30, 2016. The amount of receivables against the federal govt. which stood at PKR 4Bn till Jun. 30, 2016 increased to PKR 6.59Bn as on Mar. 31, 2017. BR. Power ministry, IPPs to meet today Water & Power Ministry and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are going to meet on May 11, 2017 (today) to settle various issues between the govt. /power purchaser and the IPPs including the overdue verified and audited amounts due to IPPs under the Power Purchase Agreement. Around 13 IPPs had invoked sovereign guarantees of the govt. to recover unpaid overdue invoices of more than PKR 48Bn (out of total outstanding of PKR 414Bn at that time) by submitting the final notice to the government through PPIB on Mar. 2, 2017. The Nation. Economic Indicators List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily Crude (JU'17) Gold (JU'17) Gold (10g) Local Silver (JU'17) Cotton(KHI)-40 kg Kibor-6M 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May 10-May PKR PKR Pts. $ Mn $/bbl $/oz PKR $/oz PKR % 104.82 105.85 51,104 -0.92 47.39 1,219 42,771 16.16 7,180 6.16% Forex Reserves 28-Apr $ Bn 21.00 -0.04% 0.00% 0.06% NM** 2.35% -0.12% 0.00% 0.15% 0.00% -0.01% WoW -0.71% YoY -2.79% -2.29% 19.88% -40.12% -160.74% USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT KSE-100 index FIPI Jul-Apr 17 Remittances $ Bn 15.60 Jul-Apr 17 Exports* $ Bn 16.92 Jul-Apr 17 Imports* $ Bn 43.47 Jul-Apr 17 Trade Balance* $ Bn -26.56 Jul-Mar 17 Current Account $ Mn -6,130 % 4.09 Avg. CPI-FY17* Jul-Apr 17 Mar-17 Discount Rate % 5.75 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Major Currencies 175 165 155 145 135 125 115 105 95 85 75 May-16 GBP, 10-May-17, 135.8 EUR, 10-May-17, 114.1 USD, 10-May-17, 104.9 Aug-16 USD Nov-16 GBP Feb-17 May-17 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Quote of the Day Work on KCR to commence by year’s end, says Murad Sindh’s Chief Minister has said that the groundbreaking of one of the city’s most ambitious projects, the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR), would be held by the year’s end. The CM said that since his visit to Beijing in Dec’16, where he had succeeded in incorporating the KCR into CPEC, the Sindh govt. has taken a number of initiatives for KCR’s revival. The News. “The challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly” Governor orders removal of hurdles in Lyari Expressway & K-IV projects Sindh Governor, Muhammad Zubair has urged concerned officials to ensure immediate removal of hurdles causing delay in the completion of a part of Lyari Expressway and address the genuine grievances of the concerned stakeholders. Chairing a meeting regarding timely completion of Lyari Expressway as well as K-IV Water Supply Scheme for Karachi, he said that traffic flow on both the tracts of the expressway must be ensured by Aug.’17. BR. Chart of the Day Jime Rohn Total Consumption of Petrol in Pakistan (Mn Tons) Schemes, projects approved by EDF board The Board of Administrators of Export Development Fund (EDF) have approved different schemes and projects worth millions of rupees each. Presided over by Commerce Minister, the board reviewed funding position of EDF as some of the schemes and projects are far from scheduled completion and that PKR 1.7Bn are available in EDF. BR. 9MFY17 Gwadar Expressway cost capped at $ 168Mn The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) has capped the cost of the Gwadar Expressway at $ 168Mn, which is 25% higher than the cost approved previously, removing the last irritant in the way of the signing of a loan agreement in China during an upcoming visit by PM Nawaz Sharif. It also approved the Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure project at a cost of $ 137Mn despite serious reservations raised by the Planning Commission over the scheme’s planning and proposed execution. Pakistan will obtain $ 137Mn loan from the World Bank for executing the project. Tribune. FY13 Pakistan likely to float $ 500Mn bonds to fund Dasu project Wapda is expecting to raise $ 500Mn by floating bonds in the international capital market backed by partial credit guarantees of the World Bank in a bid to finance the construction of 4,320-MW Dasu hydroelectric power project. This is in addition to the planned borrowing of $ 350Mn for 10 years from the global capital market approved recently by ECC of the cabinet to fund the project. Tribune. FY08 CM Okays 1,200MW gas power plant CM Shahbaz Sharif has accorded approval to set up new 1200MW gas-based power plant, and implementation of safe city projects in 6 major cities of the province. The Punjab govt. would set up a revolving fund with an amount of PKR 2Bn for the purpose. The safe city projects would be started in Multan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Sargodha. Tribune. No respite from power outages as Bin Qasim unit trips for second time within a week Karachi continued to face outages on 10th May‘17, a day after one unit of K-Electric’s Bin Qasim power plant tripped for a second time in five days. K-Electric blamed low gas pressure due to which plants are generating less electricity than the actual capacity. SSGC claims that gas is being supplied to KE at an average volume of 160MMCFD despite the fact that three natural gas fields — Naimat Basal, Sajawal and Bhit are facing technical issues. Dawn. 4,916 FY16 5,760 FY15 4,732 FY14 3,865 3,341 FY12 2,754 FY11 2,261 FY10 1,929 FY09 1,521 1,455 FY07 1,152 FY06 1,183 FY05 1,322 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 Source: KCCI Research; OCAC 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