Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 23 January

Transcription

1. Jan 23 , 2021 KCCI - eBulletin KCCI, SFIC ink MoU KCCI has signed a MoU with Shanghai Federation of Industry & Commerce (SFIC) for establishing and maintaining long term ties, setting up a joint working group and building a platform for economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between Karachi and Shanghai. The MoU, which also focuses on strengthening information sharing, promoting exchange of enterprises, consultation and evaluation on regular basis, was inked by SVP KCCI Saqib Goodluck and Senior Vice Chairman SFIC Shi Dengding during “Shanghai-Karachi Economic & Trade Exchange Webinar” held between KCCI and SFIC. Chairman BMG & Former President KCCI Zubair Motiwala, while appreciating the collaboration between KCCI and SFIC after signing of the MoU, stressed the need to insert a clause for arbitration in the existing FTA between Pakistan and China after mutual consensus as the business communities of both sides have often been facing a lot of problems and even suffer losses in case of any trade conflict. He further stated that obtaining business visas to gain entry into China and gauge the market is another impediment to exports which requires attention as businessmen often find it difficult to gain access to the Chinese market due to this particular hurdle. President KCCI Shariq Vohra, in his remarks, stated that KCCI and SFIC, being the premier chambers of industries in their respective countries, have united today to form a synergy to work collectively on bilateral goals for promoting business, trade and investment on long term basis. BR. State Bank MPC maintains policy rate unchanged at 7% SBP Monetary Policy Committee has kept the policy rate unchanged at 7% for the next two months. Governor SBP, Dr Reza Baqir has said that the MPC looked into the yearly inflation rate is projected to remain at 7-9% as previously announced. There could be some changes in the projection due to changes in electricity rates, and international oil prices but it will be temporary so MPC decided not to adjust the interest rates. BR. Shopping malls across Sindh to remain open on Saturdays, Sundays Sindh govt. has allowed shopping malls in Karachi to remain open on Saturdays and Sundays. However if a shopping mall is situated in a coronavirus hotspot within the city, then it will not be allowed to open as only essential businesses have the permission to operate therein. The Nation. Govt to disburse PKR 1.7Bn under DLTL scheme Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has assured businessmen that the govt. will clear claims worth PKR 1.7Bn under the Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) scheme in 10 days for the leather sector. He said that an additional PKR 2.5Bn in duty drawback would be disbursed to the industrialists in three stages. Tribune. ICT exports jump 40% in first half of FY21 The export of telecommunication and IT grew 40% to $ 958Mn in 1HFY21 from $ 684Mn over 1HFY20, reflecting a higher boost in the postCovid-19 period. Commerce Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood said that he was optimistic that ICT exports would cross the $ 2Bn mark in FY21. On a monthly basis, exports of ICT and telecommunication services grew 43% to $ 194Mn in Dec’20 as compared to $ 135Mn in Dec’19. ICT exports now constitute 33% of total export of services. Dawn. Economic Indicators List of Indicators PKR PKR 160.75 160.65 0.08% 0.02% KSE-100 index FIPI 22-Jan 22-Jan Pts. $ Mn 45,868 -0.61 -0.25% NM** Crude (AP'19) 22-Jan $/bbl 52.27 0.10% Gold (MA'19) 22-Jan $/oz 1,856.1 -0.38% Gold (10g) Local 22-Jan PKR 96,708 -0.53% Silver (MA'19) 22-Jan $/oz 25.50 -0.35% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 22-Jan PKR 11,574 0.00% Kibor-6M 22-Jan % 7.35 -0.01% Forex Reserves 15-Jan $ Bn 20.12 WoW -1.94% Remittances Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn 14.20 24.89% Exports* Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn 12.10 4.98% Imports* Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn 24.52 5.72% Trade Balance* Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn -12.42 -6.44% Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. Jul-Dec 20 Jul-Dec 20 $ Bn $ Bn 1.13 0.95 155.66% -29.82% YoY Jul-Nov 20 LSM Growth* % 7.41 % 8.63 Jul-Dec 20 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 7.00 Jul-20 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful, WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Major Currencies 235 215 195 175 165 145 USD Jan-20 GBP Apr-20 EUR Jul-20 USD, 22-Jan-21, 160.6 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com Oct-20 Jan-21 Quote of the Day "A good boss is better than a good company." FBR caps whistleblowing cash reward at PKR 5Mn FBR has fixed a cash reward for whistleblowing that leads to recovery of evaded taxes at a maximum of PKR 5Mn. Previously, a whistleblower \ was entitled to 20% of the recovered taxes against a tipoff. The News. Jack Ma Taking Pakistan off FATF grey list: US Muslim group announces public campaign The members of the Muslim Council of America, which lobbies for Muslim countries in the US and is currently on a visit to Pakistan, said that they are set to launch "Get Pakistan out of FATF Grey List" campaign on their return. The News. SECP urges investors to set up house finance companies SECP has called upon investors — including the banking sector — to establish Housing Finance Companies for availing benefits of the sector. In a webinar, SECP said that it would provide handholding to potential investors. Dawn. EUR, 22-Jan-21, 195.5 185 Pakistan sticks to Chinese collaboration in agriculture sector Pakistan is preparing a plan to include agriculture sector projects in the Chinese-funded corridor building framework. The plan should be approved by the federal cabinet and should cover technology transfer/import package of seed and agriculture mechanization, anticipated investment from China and capacity development of agriculture scientists. The News. CCOE opposes LNG supply guarantee The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) has emphasized that in future the govt. should not guarantee any LNG supplies, which should be based on a competitive market mechanism. So far, the govt. has guaranteed LNG supplies which has exposed state-run gas companies to financial risk. Tribune. GBP, 22-Jan-21, 219.8 225 155 Emerging markets attract $ 17Bn of inflows in first three weeks of 2021 Investors have piled Billions of dollars into emerging market assets at the start of 2021 after a banner end to last year, showing how the flood of central bank stimulus continues to drive a frantic hunt for returns. A group of 30 major developing countries have attracted $ 17Bn in inflows in the first 3 weeks of Jan’21 alone, according to a Financial Times analysis of daily data from the Institute of International Finance. The News. Change Daily 22-Jan After backing out by ENOC Govt gets better LNG price from Qatar Petroleum Trading In a welcoming development, Qatar Petroleum Trading has bailed out Pakistan by offering the lowest bid at 16.33% of the Brent for the later part of Feb’21 through an urgent tender. QPT offer is 22% lower than the price of ENOC which backed out of its bid. The News. Foreign realtors look to BoI for one-stop shop facility Foreign real estate investors have urged Board of Investment to create a one-window facility for acquiring permissions/licenses from various govt. agencies and utilities, to cut the long discouraging red tape and boost investment inflows. The News. Value 22-Jan 205 Dividend income tax collection up 27% in July-December The collection of withholding tax on dividend income has surged by 27% to PKR 9.1Bn during 1HFY21 compared with PKR 7.17Bn in 1HFY20 owing to improvement in profitability of the corporate sector. The News. Unit USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT Gas moratorium: Ministry may convene meeting of textile sector next week Commerce Ministry is likely to convene a meeting of textile sector next week to prepare a comprehensive strategy to deal with gas moratorium approved by the govt. on 21st Jan’21. The textile sector argues that if there is discrimination in gas supply it will not accept it. Captive generation costs 7 cents thus electricity tariff for export-oriented sector has to be rationalized at regionally competitive 7 cents otherwise the sector will be deprived of export market it has gained in the last year. BR. Non-filing of Foreign Income and Assets Statement: SHC rules against issuance of notices under Section 182 The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ruled against the issuance of notices under Section 182 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 to impose penalty for non-filing of Foreign Income and Assets Statement under Section 116-A of the ordinance along with the income tax return. The petitioners challenged the penalty on the grounds that it cannot be levied for non-filing of Foreign Income and Assets Statement when the same have duly been declared at the time of filing of the income tax returns for TY19 and requested the court to declare the notices illegal and without any legal consequence. BR. Date / Period Pakistan's Balance of Payments Snapshot($ Bn) 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 1.131 0.198 0.132 -0.049 -2.032 -5.606 Current Account Balance Financial Account Balance 1HFY20 1HFY21 Capital Account Balance 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.