Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 4 March

Transcription

1. March 04 , 2022 KCCI - eBulletin Cooperative Market, Victoria Building infernos: Compensation claims finalized After successfully demonstrating complete unity and sincerity towards the affectees of Bolton Market Incident in 2009 and Timber Market inferno in 2015, KCCI in collaboration with the Sindh Govt. has carried out the assessment task for scrutinizing the losses suffered by the affectees of fire-hit Cooperative Market and Victoria Building which has successfully been completed. Compensation claims of PKR 392.75Mn and PKR 52.45Mn for Cooperative Market and Victoria Building respectively have been finalized for release of compensation to the affectees of both markets. Overall compensation claims for summed up to a total of PKR 445.20Mn. Sindh Govt. had constituted a Highpowered committee namely “Karachi Affected Relief Committee” on 1st Feb’22. The committee also comprised of Chairman BMG Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, Vice Chairman BMG Jawed Bilwani, General Secretary BMG A Q Khalil among others. KCCI formed a main consultative committee and six assessment committees which summoned each and every businessman to verify his documents and claims. All shopkeepers, traders and businessmen expressed satisfaction over the assessment carried out by KCCI. BR. Business community hails PM’s relief package Business and industrial community welcomed the relief measures announced by PM Imran Khan, particularly the cut in petroleum prices by PKR 10 per litre and power tariff by PKR 5 per unit, stating that the business community was delighted to see all these relief measures. However, the govt. must also adopt conservation measures to absorb the cost-impact of PKR 237Bn during the four months. Chairman BMG and Former President KCCI Zubair Motiwala said that keeping in view the high trade deficit and prices of Brent Oil hovering above $ 100 per barrel along with heavy imports, Pakistan was going to face a very difficult situation. He said that petroleum consumption has to be curtailed at any cost even by adopting the even-odd number strategy wherein vehicles bearing even numbers should be allowed to get refueled on day one and those with odd numbers the next day. President KCCI Muhammad Idrees said that it is heartening to see that the govt., despite so many challenges, has dared to provide relief. He appealed to re-examine taxes imposed in the Supplementary Finance Bill. BR. Immovable properties in 40 major cities: FBR revises valuation rates downwards FBR has revised downward valuation rates of immovable properties in 40 major cities as compared to previously notified rates on 1st Dec’21. The coverage of the valuation of the property was increased from 20 to 40 cities. BR. FBR notifies amended property valuation for Karachi FBR has notified amended property valuation rates for Karachi with a view to bringing them closer to the actual market prices. For properties in Karachi, a new category ‘I-plus’ has been formulated, where commercial properties – plots and build-ups, have been revalued at PKR 160,000 and PKR 80,000 per square yard. The commercial properties of DHA phase I to VIII falls in this new category. FBR has also given year-wise depreciation value of commercial built up properties. There will be no reduction in value of properties up to 10 years. The News. Pact for debt suspension with Saudi fund signed Pakistan has signed an agreement with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) for suspension of debt servicing of $ 846Mn for six years under the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). The total amount of Pakistan’s external debt suspended and rescheduled under the DSSI framework, covering the period from May’20 to Dec’21, is about $ 3.688Bn. Pakistan’s total debt payable to 11 of G20 nations stands at about $ 20.7Bn under 155 loans. Dawn. SBP focusing on P2C under Raast SBP is working to roll out product-to-consumer (P2C) digital payment system under Raast this year, which will create an enabling environment for e-commerce business to thrive in the country. During FY21, Pakistan had 1.2Bn transactions worth over $ 500Bn that were processed through retail e-banking channels. Tribune. List of Indicators Date / Period $ 600Mn joint venture to boost agri production The Sri Lanka China Business Council (SCBC) and a local private agriculture firm have entered into a $ 600Mn joint venture for introducing modern farming technology in Pakistan. Quality seeds, greenhouse infrastructure, processing and packaging with support of science and technology will be given by SCBC, while the local partner will provide land at different places with required infrastructure. Dawn. Pak-Uzbek cooperation in diverse areas: Pacts, including PTA, MoUs signed Pakistan and Uzbekistan have signed various agreements and MoUs, including the bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) for increased cooperation in the areas of trade, culture, tourism, connectivity, climate change and security. BR. IT exporters cheer tax immunity, hope to fetch $ 50Bn in 5-6 years Experts and IT industry have lauded the govt.’s new package giving 100% tax exemption to both freelancers and IT companies, terming it beneficial for raising IT exports to $ 50Bn in five-six years. The News. Cement sales shrink 4.75% in February 2022 In 8MFY22, total cement offtake (domestic and exports) came in at 35.78Mn tons as compared to 37.95Mn tons in 8MFY21, a decline of 5.75%. Domestic demand shrank 0.63% to 31.42Mn tons in 8MFY22 while exports fell by a massive 31.35% to 4.34Mn tons. Tribune. Services exports jump 19% Export of services grew by 18.82% in 7MFY22 to $ 3.94Bn from $ 3.32Bn over 7MFY21. Dawn. SBP reserves fall $ 344Mn to $ 16.46Bn On 25th Feb’22, foreign currency reserves held by SBP were recorded at $ 16.46Bn, down $ 344Mn compared with $ 16.81Bn on 18th Feb’22. Net reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $ 6.41Bn. Overall reserves held by the country stood at $ 22.88Bn. Tribune. Change Daily 3-Mar 3-Mar PKR PKR 177.83 178.25 0.12% 0.25% KSE-100 index FIPI 3-Mar 3-Mar Pts. $ Mn 44,526 1.24 0.03% NM** Crude Oil 3-Mar $/bbl 107.67 -2.65% Gold 3-Mar $/oz 1,935.9 0.71% Gold (10g) Local 3-Mar PKR 110,260 0.00% Silver 3-Mar $/oz 25.21 0.09% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 3-Mar PKR 21,434 0.00% Kibor-6M 3-Mar % 11.08 0.02% 25-Feb $ Bn 22.88 WoW -1.51% Remittances Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn 17.95 8.95% Exports* Jul-Feb 22 $ Bn 20.55 25.88% Imports* Jul-Feb 22 $ Bn 52.51 55.08% Trade Balance* Jul-Feb 22 $ Bn -31.96 -82.26% Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. Jul-Jan 22 Jul-Jan 22 $ Bn $ Bn -11.58 1.17 -1226.4% 11.32% Forex Reserves YoY Jul-Dec 21 LSM Growth* % 7.40 % 10.52 Jul-Feb 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 Mar-21 GBP, 2-Mar-22, 237.3 EUR, 2-Mar-22, 198.0 USD, 2-Mar-22, 177.8 USD Jun-21 GBP Sep-21 EUR Dec-21 Mar-22 Source: KCCI Research Quote of the Day "Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future." Robert H. Schuller Chinese industries may relocate to Pakistan, parliamentary panel told The Parliamentary Committee on CPEC has been informed that Chinese companies have agreed to relocate industries to Pakistan and invest in the country in different sectors. They will establish a metal and paper recycling project in Gwadar for export. Another company is going to establish a special economic zone on the Lahore-Kasur road for the establishment of cotton and dairy-related industries. Dawn. Virtual talks with IMF on EFF review today Pakistan and IMF are set to begin virtual talks on 7th review of the $ 6Bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) today (4th Mar’22) with focus on recent expansionary financial package and money whitening scheme announced by PM Imran Khan. The discussions would continue for over 10 days. Pakistan has so far received $ 3Bn out of the $ 6Bn worth 39-month program. Dawn. Value USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT Pakistan likely to remain on FATF grey list until June Pakistan is likely to remain on the so-called grey list of FATF for another four months — i.e. until Jun’22 — for a couple of unmet targets under the additional criteria. Pakistan has been on the grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since Jun’18. Dawn. ML-1 project: design fault, inadequate consultancy cause delay CPEC Authority has revealed that Pakistan Railways’ multi-billion dollars ML-1 project has been delayed due to design fault and lack of \ capacity of consultant. BR. Unit Pakistan's Balance of Payments ($ Bn) 2 1.03 0 -11.58 0.15 0.14 -0.18 -11.60 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -12 Current Account Balance 7M-FY21 Capital Account Balance 7M-FY22 Financial Account Source: KCCI Research; SBP Note Smeda has invited applications for Growth Stage Start-up grants to provide financial support to entrepreneurs to meet capital or operating needs. The maximum grant size is of PKR 500,000 or 80% of the total cost of goods / services. Please visit http://nbdp.org.pk/nbdp_grants.php