Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 17 February

Transcription

1. February 17 , 2022 KCCI - eBulletin Govt. draws fire for massive fuel price hike The business community has condemned the govt.'s wholesale hike in the prices of petroleum products, which they said would devastate country's commercial activities. President KCCI Muhammad Idris said that although the international crude oil prices have hit record levels, the govt. should have saved the masses from the devastating impact to a large extent instead of passing it on to them. He said the cost of production of industrial products would jump after increase in transportation expenses. He also pointed out that in view of shortage of gas, many industries were using kerosene for producing steam that is used in the production process. The News. LCCI signs MoU with PAJCCI, Afghanistan Chamber Taking a giant leap towards promotion of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has signed a MoU with Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PAJCCI) and Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Investment (ACCI). Chairman PAJCCI, BMG and former President KCCI, Zubair Motiwala said that poverty in Afghanistan can be eradicated through business. He added that fiscal reforms are direly needed in Afghanistan. BR. State Bank raises agri credit limits SBP has enhanced the indicative credit limits for agriculture financing to align the amount of loans with input requirements. All five major crops’ limits were substantially increased. Per acre limit for rice has been increased to PKR 70,000 for 2022 from PKR 45,000 per acre in 2019. Wheat per acre indicative price was increased by 50% to PKR 60,000 for 2022 from PKR 40,000 in 2019. Dawn. SBP expands scope of Export Finance Scheme SBP has enhanced the scope of Export Finance Scheme (EFS) – both conventional as well as Shariah based, allowing exporters to obtain financing against their export proceeds through the discounting of export bills and receivables. In the first three months, this facility will be available at the introductory lower rates of 1% and 2%. SBP has also provided a special relaxation by increasing the export proceeds realization period up to 180 days if the exporter avails the discounting facility. Tribune. Senate panel clears Public-Private Partnership Authority Act A Senate panel has unanimously cleared the Public-Private Partnership Authority (P3A) Act that gives representation to a member each of the two houses of parliament and the provinces on its board, but did not clear a bill on the CPEC Authority (CPECA) for lack of provincial representation. Dawn. LTO sets up advanced control room Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) Karachi has established an advanced control room for seamless implementation of the Point of Sale (POS) scheme that will monitor the real-time activity of Tier-1 Retailers on a daily basis and register complaints about non-implementation of POS scheme or non-issuance of POS generated invoices. BR. Senate panel clears debt limitation law The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance has cleared a bill to amend the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act (FRDLA). Govt. guarantees stood at 6% of GDP and the total stock of the public debt at 72% of GDP at present. The bill sought to increase the limit on the stock of outstanding guarantees to 10% of GDP. Likewise, the limit on the stock of the total public debt and guarantees was proposed at 70% of GDP in the new bill. Dawn. No let-up in gas crisis: LNG firms renege on commitment to provide cargoes The ongoing gas crisis is unlikely to subside when the mercury rises as LNG trading companies, Italy-based ENI and Singapore-based GUNVOR, have cancelled their term LNG cargoes, which were scheduled to be delivered in Mar’22. The News. Private Funds: SECP empowers SCD to exercise powers of Commission SECP has empowered Specialized Companies Division to exercise powers of the Commission relating to the Private Funds. SECP has issued SRO 87 (I)/2022. BR. There’s no change in tax, concessionary WHT regime for jewelers Despite withdrawal of sales tax exemption on jewellery under the Finance (Supplementary) Act, 2022, there is no change in income tax and concessionary withholding tax regime. The sector continues to avail concessionary reduced rate of withholding tax on import of unwrought or semi-manufactured gold at 1%, whereas, other industrial raw materials are generally subject to tax at import stage at 2%. BR. Borrowing money from MNCs to show big tax collection: AGP raises concern over FBR ‘maneuvering’ \ The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) raised serious concern over FBR’s practice to borrow money from multinational companies at the end of the financial year to show that it met the budgetary revenue collection target, which had a negative impact on the distribution of resources under the NFC Award. FBR Chairman admitted that in the past, the board borrowed money and put in the revenue collection to show budgetary target was met; however, he assured the committee that two years ago this practice was discontinued. BR. Govt.s to see inflation-driven drop in debt Credit rating firm Fitch has said that Govts. will benefit from the biggest inflation-driven drop in debt ratios in over 20 years. Fitch estimated a slicing of around 5% points off the US debt-to-GDP and 2% points globally. Tribune. $ 50Mn defence credit line for Sri Lanka: MoDP advised to seek approval from ECC Ministry of Finance (MoF) has advised Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP) to seek ECC approval for establishing Defence Credit Line Facility of $ 50Mn for Sri Lanka before starting negotiations and finalizing terms and conditions. During his visit to Sri Lanka, PM Imran Khan announced a Defence Credit Line of $ 50Mn for Sri Lanka to enhance bilateral Defence and Security cooperation. BR. Senate panel approves two amendments to Ogra bill The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet approved two amendments in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022, allowing the authority to notify gas prices within 40 days without waiting the decision of the federal govt., one of the conditions of the IMF. BR. Monthly tax returns: SRB extends e-filing deadline SRB has allowed the registered persons including the withholding agents to e-deposit the Sindh Sales Tax for the tax period of Jan’22 on or before 21st Feb’22. Similarly, registered persons are also permitted to e-file their tax returns for the same tax period on or before 24th Feb’22. BR. PKR 3.5Bn revenue stuck: New IR court to expedite tax-related litigation processes: Dr Ashfaq The govt. will establish a new court of Inland Revenue to expedite the process of tax-related litigations in courts involving stuck up revenue of PKR 3.5Bn owing to cumbersome procedure of four stages of appeals. BR. PTA conducts QoS survey in 18 cities: CMOs missed most of KPIs set in licences, regulations The Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) have missed most of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set in their license and applicable regulations with respect to SMS and voice services, revealed independent quality of service (QoS) survey carried out by PTA. BR. Auction for PIBs: Cut-off yields down 9-11bps In the PIB (fixed rate) auction, cut-off yields were down 9-11 basis points. The govt. raised PKR 99.5Bn against its target of PKR 100Bn. In the three year tenor, the govt. raised PKR 4.0Bn against a target of PKR 30.0Bn, in the five year tenor the govt. raised PKR 45.0Bn, while in the 10 year tenor, the govt. raised PKR 50.5Bn. BR. List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT 16-Feb 16-Feb PKR PKR 175.67 177.20 -0.06% -0.06% KSE-100 index FIPI 16-Feb 16-Feb Pts. $ Mn 45,685 -0.19 -0.10% NM** Crude Oil 16-Feb $/bbl 93.66 1.73% Gold 16-Feb $/oz 1,871.5 0.82% Gold (10g) Local 16-Feb PKR 107,680 0.23% Silver 16-Feb $/oz 23.65 1.13% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 16-Feb PKR 21,648 0.00% Kibor-6M 16-Feb % 10.81 0.01% 4-Feb $ Bn 23.72 WoW 7.41% Remittances Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 17.95 8.95% Exports* Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 17.67 23.96% Imports* Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 46.47 58.84% Trade Balance* Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn -28.80 -91.97% Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. Jul-Dec 21 Jul-Dec 21 $ Bn $ Bn -9.09 1.06 -829.11% 20.11% Forex Reserves YoY Jul-Nov 21 LSM Growth* % 3.26 % 10.26 Jul-Jan 22 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 9.75 Jan-22 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful, WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Major Currencies 255 245 235 225 215 205 195 185 175 165 155 145 Feb-21 GBP, 16-Feb-22, 239.8 EUR, 16-Feb-22, 199.5 USD, 16-Feb-22, 177.2 May-21 GBP USD Aug-21 EUR Nov-21 Feb-22 Source: KCCI Research Quote of the Day “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” Chris Grosser Pakistan’s Import of Food Items in 7M-FY22 ($ Mn) Palm Oil, 2,130.38, 38% Total Milk, Cream & Infant Milk Food, 87.95, 2% Spices, 140.85, 2% Sugar, 189.94, 3% Tea, 354.58, 6% Soybean Oil, 65.09, 1% Pulses (Leguminous Veg.), 379.48, 7% $ 5,629.2 Mn Wheat Un-milled, 627.48, 11% All Others Food Items, 1,610.19, 29% Dry Fruits & Nuts, 43.24, 1% Source: KCCI Research; PBS Note The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Small and Medium Enterprise Activity (SMEA) wants to assess the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic has affected business activity. A survey has been designed in this regard and you are requested to participate using the link: http://bit.ly/3rO4Wwu