Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 21 February

Transcription

1. Feb . 21, 2017 KCCI - eBulletin SBP tells banks to accept all types of dollars SBP, in its meeting with commercial banks and exchange companies, has advised to accept all types of dollars as it has received complaints that some banks are not accepting old or stapled dollar currency notes. Moreover, banks and exchange companies also accept these dollars but at lower rates which is not possible as SBP cannot maintain multiple exchange rates. The exchange companies mainly export these dollars to Dubai resulting in 1%-3% loss on exchange of these dollar notes. Therefore, the companies are accepting small denomination, old or stapled dollars at lower exchange rate, while banks categorically reject these greenbacks. BR. Improved power supply helps LSM post growth of over 7% Pakistan’s Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) posted a handsome growth of over 7% in Dec.’16 over the corresponding period of the previous year. The higher-than-expected growth recorded in the LSM sector in Nov.’16 and Dec.’16 is attributed to improvement in the power and gas supplies to industries. LSM grew by only 3.9% during 1HFY17. For FY17, the govt. had targeted LSM growth at 5.9%. LSM data showed growth of 2.99% during the quarter under review. The Nation. KCCI urges timely settlement of pending refund claims President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Shamim Ahmed Firpo has urged the govt. for timely settlement of the pending sales tax refunds claims of PKR 110Bn. In this regard, KCCI President recalled that under the prime minister’s directives, Sales Tax refunds of up to PKR 22Bn were settled in Aug.’16, which was followed by another settlement of PKR 21Bn for the period ending Jun. 1, 2015-Jun. 30, 2016 in Nov.’16, but it has been three months now since the last payments against refund claims were made. The Nation. CPEC body for formation of intelligence-sharing platform CPEC Parliamentary Committee has recommended formation of a platform for intelligence sharing of all security forces and intelligence agencies for the security of Gwadar port and other CPEC projects. In this regard, Planning Ministry will formulate the recommendations and send them to the Prime Minister for final approval. BR. Govt. finally allocates PKR 25Bn for Gwadar LNG pipeline The govt. has earmarked PKR 25Bn out of gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) collection for implementing the $ 2Bn Gwadar liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline project. The govt. has received about PKR 183Bn so far on account of GIDC meant for spending on different gas pipeline projects. In the ECC meeting, the Ministry of Finance insisted that besides the allocated PKR 25Bn, more funds would be earmarked from the GIDC for the LNG pipeline. Tribune. Auditing reforms save government multibillion rupees In a meeting with a delegation of Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA), Auditor General of Pakistan has said that the new audit approach has been initiated in all field audit offices by allocating at least 30% of their resources for special audit activity. The new public sector’s auditing measures have helped the govt. save billions of rupees through rectifying the loopholes. He further said that for every rupee spent on audit, PKR 21 were recovered by ministries/divisions on the basis of observations raised by audit. Total recovery for the year 2015-16 was PKR 81Bn as compared to PKR 40Bn during 2014-15, showing an increase of 100% in recoveries over the previous year. The News. USAID project: first vegetables consignment shipped to Dubai via sea In a bid to enhance vegetable exports by reducing the cost, Pakistan has shipped first consignment of selected vegetables to Dubai via sea route on an experimental basis. With export via sea route, exporters can save PKR 75/kg as air shipped cost of vegetable is PKR 80/kg compared to only PKR 5/kg through the sea route. The first-ever consignment of nine select vegetables including tomato, Brinjal, cucumber, carrot, okra, long melon, etc. weighing seven tons has been shipped to Dubai on Feb. 20, 2017 under the Agricultural Market Development (AMD) project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). BR. CCP penalizes organizations for deceptive marketing Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed penalties on different private and public sector organizations indulging in deceptive marketing practices in violation of the Competition Act, 2010. The CCP imposed penalty on real estate, petroleum and dairy companies to stop the malpractices and maintain transparency in the market. The CCP had imposed a penalty PKR 150Mn, PKR 2Mn, PKR 64Mn on Pakistan State Oil, Bahria Town Rawalpindi, and different dairy companies, respectively, for running deceptive marketing campaign for products. The News. Closure of pipeline to curb water theft ordered Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has failed to curb huge water theft from an 84-inch-dia pipeline from the North-East Karachi (NEK) pumping station to Hub pumping station. Between 10Mn gallons and 25 MGD is being stolen from the said pipeline on a daily basis. Around four months back, KWSB chief had directed the officials concerned of the water utility to close the line, but no action had been taken. Dawn. SBP building capacity for ‘adverse situation’ SBP has started to build its capacity to effectively deal with any adverse situation and resume operations without any major interruption. SBP Governor has said that emergency preparedness and comprehensive arrangements for business continuity planning are essential for the corporate world in a fast-changing, highly vulnerable environment to ensure operational sustainability of institutions. Dawn. Pakistan Railways launches mobile app for seat reservation Pakistan Railways (PR) has announced the launch of its first mobile application, in a bid to facilitate travelers to reserve seats of their choice without having to visit their local ticketing office. In addition to being able to reserve their seats on 48 trains, passengers can view information regarding arrival, possible delays, expected travel time, stoppages and payment solutions through the newly launched app. Tribune. Economic Indicators List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily Crude (AP'17) Gold (MA'17) Gold (10g) Local Silver (MA'17) Cotton(KHI)-40 kg Kibor-6M 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb 20-Feb PKR PKR Pts. $ Mn $/bbl $/oz PKR $/oz PKR % 104.85 107.10 48,929 3.50 53.93 1,238 43,457 18.05 7,272 6.13% Forex Reserves 10-Feb $ Bn 21.82 0.01% 0.00% -0.90% NM** 0.33% 0.12% 0.00% 0.25% 0.75% -0.01% WoW -0.94% YoY -1.86% -3.21% 19.32% -20.29% -90.24% USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT KSE-100 index FIPI Jul-Jan 17 Remittances $ Bn 10.95 Jul-Jan 17 Exports* $ Bn 11.69 Jul-Jan 17 Imports* $ Bn 29.11 Jul-Jan 17 Trade Balance* $ Bn -17.43 Jul-Jan 17 Current Account $ Mn -4,716 % 3.85 Avg. CPI-FY17* Jul-Jan 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 Feb-16 GBP, 20-Feb-17, 130.6 USD, 20-Feb-17, 104.9 May-16 USD GBP Aug-16 Nov-16 Feb-17 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Quote of the Day “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Chart of the Day Large Scale Manufacturing Index & Growth Trajectory (Dec.'13-Dec.'16) 160 14% 12% 150 10% 140 8% 6% 130 4% 120 2% 0% 110 -2% 100 -4% Dec/13 Jan/14 Feb/14 Mar/14 Apr/14 May/14 Jun/14 Jul/14 Aug/14 Sep/14 Oct/14 Nov/14 Dec/14 Jan/15 Feb/15 Mar/15 Apr/15 May/15 Jun/15 Jul/15 Aug/15 Sep/15 Oct/15 Nov/15 Dec/15 Jan/16 Feb/16 Mar/16 Apr/16 May/16 Jun/16 Jul/16 Aug/16 Sep/16 Oct/16 Nov/16 Dec/16 Facility of GSP plus to remain intact by Dec 31, 2023: Dastgir In a meeting with businessmen, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir has said that the GSP plus facility granted to Pakistan by European Union would remain intact by Dec. 31, 2023, so Pakistani exporters should fully concentrate on enhancing their exports to the potential markets of EU countries. The Minister also asked the businessmen to submit their proposals specifically for the export oriented industry through which the surcharge of PKR 3.4 could be eliminated for the exporters. BR. LSM Index Y-o-Y Growth (RHS) Source: KCCI Research, PBS 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