Pakistan Daily Economy Update, 12-13 March

Transcription

1. Mar . 12-13, 2017 KCCI - eBulletin Jul-Feb trade deficit widens to $ 20.20Bn Pakistan’s trade deficit has widened to $ 20.2Bn during 8MFY17up by 34% from $ 15.04Bn year ago. During the period under review, exports declined by 3.9% to $ 13.32Bn compared to $ 13.86Bn in 8MFY16. However, imports increased by 15.99% to $ 33.52Bn as against $ 28.90Bn in the same period last year. Similarly, trade deficit fell by 4.65% in Feb.’17 to $ 2.81Bn from $ 2.94Bn in Jan.’17 where exports decreased by 7.98% and imports declined by 5.91% over the previous month of Jan.’17. BR - Sun. Country all set to conduct first census in 19 years The govt. has announced that all preparations have been made for the sixth housing and population census, starting from Mar. 15 (Wednesday) after a hiatus of 19 years. The census will be followed by a 10 day break for the movement of logistical arrangements, after which the second phase will go on until May 25. In this regard, PKR 18.5Bn have been allocated for the key national exercise, to be conducted in two phases by 118,918 enumerators. The Nation - Sun. Murad asks Centre to ensure accurate data in census, relax CNIC condition Sindh Chief Minister has underscored the need for conducting the sixth census in a transparent manner so as to restore people’s confidence in the process. Some of the suggestions of CM include developing a mechanism to make sure that block-wise information, to be compiled on a daily basis, was made accessible to the general public and that the compulsory condition for every citizen to have his/her CNIC should be relaxed. Dawn – Mon. Dar empowered to issue auxiliary budgets The federal cabinet has authorized Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to issue supplementary budgets, sparking criticism from constitutional law experts who described the move as unlawful and against the spirit of a Supreme Court judgment aimed at reinforcing democratic values in government decision-making. The Supreme Court also ruled that the budgetary expenditure or discretionary governmental expenditure could only be authorised by the federal govt. – the cabinet and not the prime minister. The federal govt. had challenged the Supreme Court decision but the apex court rejected its review petition. Tribune – Sun. Shipping companies to collect “Port Congestion Charge” The shipping companies have announced to begin collecting ''Port Congestion Charge'' from importers from Mar. 22, 2017 where Containers Imbalance Charge (CIC) or Port Congestion Charge is going to be implemented in view of the ongoing severe congestion at Karachi ports. The shipping lines would therefore collect $ 150/20ft container and $ 300/40ft container from the consignee at the destination before delivery order release. BR - Sun. Pakistan will be paying China $ 90Bn against CPEC-related projects Pakistan will end up paying $ 90Bn to China over a span of 30 years against the loan and investment portfolio worth $ 54Bn under CPEC, according to a report titled, ‘Pakistan’s External Account Concerns and CPEC Repayment. Average annual repayment of CPEC will be $ 3Bn. In medium term, between FY 2020-25, it will range between $ 2.0-5.3Bn with average payment of $ 3.7Bn. Tribune – Sun. Economic Corridor: FBR to grant tax exemption to Gwadar projects FBR has decided to grant tax exemption for projects related to Gwadar, including Gwadar International Airport, under CPEC project. The issue of tax exemption to Gwadar projects was discussed during the progress review meeting on the CPEC projects. The meeting also decided that an integrated security setup would be established for monitoring and controlling of the security mechanism. BR - Sun. Large consumers may pay higher rates for RLNG The government is considering restructuring the natural gas tariff to provide imported RLNG to large domestic consumers at significantly higher rates. A policy wing of the Ministry of Petroleum would be sending a formal summary to the federal cabinet to include domestic consumers in the highest slab of natural gas consumers among recipients of RLNG. That would mean the price for large domestic consumers could be increased by 40% for the purpose of price parity with CNG, industry, fertilizer and power sector. Dawn – Mon. Govt. to discuss overdue payments with IPPs; partial disbursements made The ministry of water and power will hold a meeting to resolve a re-emerging issue of overdue payments of the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The govt. has already made partial payments to the power producers. It disbursed PKR 30Bn, out of a circular debt’s overdue amount of whopping PKR 444Bn to 50 power producers. The News – Sun. Natural gas losses Around 400m cubic feet of natural gas is going to waste every day, accounting for almost 14-15% of total supplies to the country’s integrated transmission and distribution network. This much of gas is sufficient to run up to 2,400MW of power plants. If diverted to the fertiliser sector, this quantity of gas is enough to operate about four plants of the size of Engro Fertiliser that earns around PKR 20Bn profit per year. Dawn – Mon. Economic Indicators List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 10-Mar 9-Mar PKR PKR Pts. $ Mn $/bbl $/oz PKR $/oz PKR % 104.80 106.35 49,192 3.24 48.97 1,203 42,857 17.00 7,288 6.12% 3-Mar $ Bn 22.15 -0.04% 0.33% -0.41% NM** -1.59% -0.02% -0.40% 0.41% 0.22% -0.01% WoW 1.50% YoY -2.52% -3.90% 16.03% -34.40% -90.24% USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT KSE-100 index FIPI Crude (MY'17) Gold (MA'17) Gold (10g) Local Silver (MA'17) Cotton(KHI)-40 kg Kibor-6M Forex Reserves Jul-Feb 17 Remittances $ Bn 12.36 Jul-Feb 17 Exports* $ Bn 13.32 Jul-Feb 17 Imports* $ Bn 33.52 Jul-Feb 17 Trade Balance* $ Bn -20.20 Jul-Jan 17 Current Account $ Mn -4,716 % 3.85 Avg. CPI-FY17* Jul-Feb 17 Jan-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 Mar-16 GBP, 12-Mar-17, 126.7 EUR, 12-Mar-17, 111.2 USD, 12-Mar-17, 104.2 Jun-16 USD Sep-16 GBP Dec-16 Mar-17 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Quote of the Day "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin Chart of the Day SBP bans particular foreign trips of banks The SBP has barred staff of commercial banks from undertaking foreign pleasure trips of some particular nature with immediate effect and has also asked for submission of details of the foreign trips. These include trips arranged by 3rd parties (banca), trips arranged by bank from the commission earned from 3rd parties and trips by bank to its staff on achieving the business targets. In this regard, SBP has called meeting of the heads of the commercial banks to discuss various issues including foreign trips. BR - Mon. Indian farmers want to resume selling produce to Pakistan Indian farmers have urged the state govt. to facilitate export of vegetables to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border. There is a glut of vegetables in India these days. Whereas in stark contrast there is huge demand for vegetables just 30km away in Pakistan. Farmers began facing difficulties during demonetization, when there was no cash flow in the market and farmers were forced to sell their produce at any value. Tribune – Sun. 7751.03 7416.23 6897.69 6829.47 6931.42 6835.19 7424.88 7649.77 6,000 4876.37 SBP snubs assemblers over criticism of 100% cash margin on imports SBP has said that the three top assemblers cumulatively held PKR 67.2Bn in cash, bank balance and short-term investments. The SBP was responding to criticism by the PAMA over imposition of 100% cash margin on imports. The central bank maintained that given this cash cushion, the industry should not face any undue financial burden in putting up 100% cash margin at the time of opening letters of credit (LCs). The SBP believes that local car industry’s cash flow has benefitted tremendously from the longstanding practice of charging advance payments from customers. Dawn – Sun. 8222.77 7,000 8,000 7285.19 Govt to boost investment: Dar Finance Minister in a meeting with PSX delegation has said that the government has plans to expand investment in various fields through the Pakistan Development Fund which would focus on financing commercially viable public sector projects. The delegation also presented proposals for the upcoming budget targeting to remove anomalies and rationalize the tax structure for the capital market. Dawn – Sun. Consumption Trend of HSD in Pakistan 7375.65 9,000 7734.27 Cash business balloons to PKR 4.8Tn Businesses operating outside the banking system seem to be flourishing in the country. This is reflected by the substantially reduced collection of withholding tax on banking transactions in 2016. Estimated size of business conducted in cash nearly doubled in one year. Bankers said the size of non-bank or cash-only business is estimated to be PKR 4,800Bn, up 85% from a year ago. The business community has been in a defiant mode since the imposition of this tax by resorting to cash-only transactions. Dawn – Sun. 5,000 4,000 3,000 Value in M.Tons 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 Value