Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 8 September

Transcription

1. Sep . 8, 2017 KCCI - eBulletin No APTTCA meeting: Afghanistan seeks to bring India in Afghanistan has refused to hold 7th meeting of Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Co-ordination Authority (APTTCA) until India is formally included. This has been conveyed by the Afghan govt. officially to Government of Pakistan through a high-ranking officer leading to the shelving of the proposed meetings of APTTCA and Joint Economic Commission (JEC) which was scheduled in Sept.’17. Earlier, Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan had sought the consent of Islamabad to hold a meeting in Aug.’17. However, subsequent to the US President Donald Trump's announcement of the new policy for South Asia with an expanded role for India, the Afghan govt. suddenly changed its tone and scrapped the proposed meeting. BR. USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT KSE-100 index FIPI Pakistan asks CAREC members to implement economic alliance proposals Finance Minister Mr. Dar has called upon the member countries of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) to expedite works on Pakistan’s proposals to accelerate cooperation in aviation, capital markets and capacity development. He said that Pakistan seeks to expand trade and investment links with the region in the east, west and central Asia. Pakistan is committed to the objective of regional connectivity as it believes that the future of people of the region lies in greater connectivity with each other’s markets. The News. Crude (OC'17) Gold (OC'17) Gold (10g) Local Silver (OC'17) Cotton(KHI)-40 kg Kibor-6M CM approves more development schemes worth PKR 8.4Bn for city Sindh CM has given approval to 14 more development schemes for the metropolis during the 2nd phase of the Karachi development package worth PKR 22Bn. The approval was given at a meeting held at the CM House for reviewing progress of the schemes which were approved for 1st phase. The government has allocated PKR 8.4Bn for the 2nd phase. It had earlier allocated PKR 10Bn for 1st phase and it will allocate PKR 3.6Bn for the third phase. Dawn. Sindh seeks details of census blocks to ascertain credibility Sindh govt. has demanded details of all census blocks of the province from the federal govt. to ascertain credibility of the headcount while the same will be discussed in next Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting. In the 25th meeting of the Inter-Provincial Co-ordination Committee (IPCC), it was decided unanimously that reservations of Sindh, KP and Balochistan on the census will be taken up in the next CCI meeting. BR. Practitioners slam amendment in tax law Tax professionals have rejected an amendment into a provincial tax law that penalizes both the service recipient and provider if the former fails to deposit due tax within a certain time period into national kitty. According to new law change, if a service recipient doesn’t settle the collected tax amount within half year of invoice date, both the recipient as well as service provider will jointly be responsible for payment. The News. Sindh govt asked to waive ST on service exports Tax Experts have urged Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) to exempt exports of all kinds of services from sales tax. Acknowledging that the provinces have the right to tax all services, they said the SRB should exempt services exports from sales tax in line with the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Dawn. Debt servicing stood at 65% of FY17 deficit Domestic debt servicing played a key role in the record high fiscal deficit in FY17 as its share in the deficit was 65.4%. The latest data of Ministry of Finance reveals that debt servicing in FY17 was 30.7% of the tax revenue and 90.8% of the direct taxes (PKR 1,343Bn). The debt servicing in terms of percentage against GDP slightly decreased to 3.8% while it was 3.9% in FY16. Dawn. Marriott signs deal to open Sheraton Grand Hotel in Lahore Marriott International has announced an agreement with Imperium Hospitality for opening Sheraton Grand Hotel in Lahore, marking the company’s first hotel in Pakistan’s key gateway city. Scheduled to open in 2021, the hotel will carry the Sheraton Grand designation, which represents the premier tier of Sheraton hotels recognised for their enticing destinations, distinguished designs and excellence in service and guest experiences. Sheraton Grand Lahore will feature 168 well-appointed guestrooms and comprise four food and beverage outlets, including a specialty restaurant. Tribune. \ Economic Indicators Power production jumps 14% as new projects come online Government’s efforts to overcome the energy crisis has started to bear fruit as addition of new nuclear, coal and imported gasfired power projects helped increase electricity generation in Jul’17. The power regulator has reported an increase of 14% in power production to 12,496.63 GWh in Jul’17 from 10,991.82 GWh in Jul’16. RLNG, nuclear and coal-based generation have registered a year-on-year surge of 51.4%, 93.7% and 68.2 times, respectively. The uptick in nuclear-based generation is led by new generation from Chashma Nuclear-lll, while Sahiwal’s coal power plant has also commenced production. Tribune. No loadshedding from November, says Abid Minister of State for Power Abid Sher Ali has claimed that government is increasing the power generation capacity and is formally going to announce an end to load shedding across the country by Nov’17 this year. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the threshold of 20,000MW electricity generation has been crossed. He further said that the government will bring an additional 4,000MW generation capacity in the system within next three or four months. Dawn. Branchless banking deposits grow 95% Deposits in branchless banking accounts at the end of Jun’17 amounted to PKR 15.4Bn, up 95% from a quarter go. According to branchless banking statistics released by SBP, the number of transactions in April-June rose 18.9% quarter-on-quarter to 167Mn. The quarterly increase in the value of transactions in the three-month period was 32.3%. Dawn. New York regulator fines HBL $ 225Mn The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has said that it has fined Pakistan's Habib Bank and its New York branch $ 225Mn for failures to comply with laws and regulations designed to combat illicit money transactions. However, last month, DFS had imposed a penalty of $ 630Mn. The case includes an investigation of transactions processed by the branch from Oct.’13 to the end of Sept.’14, and from Apr.’15 through the end of Jul.’17. BR. Forex reserves up $ 386Mn The country’s totaled foreign exchange reserves have posted an increase of $ 386Mn standing at $ 20.39Bn as on Aug. 31, 2017 compared to $ 20Bn as on Aug. 25, 2017. During the week under review, SBP's reserves increased to $ 14.68Bn from $ 14.34Bn a week earlier. The reserves held by the banks increased slightly to $ 5.71Bn as on Aug. 31, 2017 compared to $ 5.66Bn as on Aug. 25, 2017. BR. List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep 7-Sep PKR PKR Pts. $ Mn $/bbl $/oz PKR $/oz PKR % 105.41 106.15 40,959 9.71 49.15 1,349.5 45,128 18.12 6,537 6.16% 31-Aug $ Bn 20.39 0.00% 0.05% -1.04% NM** -0.08% 0.34% 0.86% 1.25% 0.82% 0.01% WoW 1.93% YoY 16.04% 10.58% 36.74% -55.46% -210.12% 162.81% Forex Reserves Jul-17 Remittances $ Bn 1.54 Jul-17 Exports* $ Bn 1.63 Jul-17 Imports* $ Bn 4.84 Jul-17 Trade Balance* $ Bn -3.20 Jul-17 Current Account $ Mn -2,053 Foreign Direct Inv. $ Bn 0.22 Jul-17 Jul-Jun 17 LSM Growth* % 5.60 % 3.41 Jul-Aug 17 Avg. CPI-FY18* Discount Rate % 5.75 Jul-17 WoW= week Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful on week; Major Currencies 145 GBP, 7-Sep-17, 137.6 135 125 EUR, 7-Sep-17, 126.0 115 105 USD, 7-Sep-17, 105.3 95 Sep-16 USD Dec-16 GBP EUR Mar-17 Jun-17 Sep-17 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com Quote of the Day "Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasure, and you can create for the world a destiny more sublime that ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer." Walter Scott Chart of the Day AVERAGE ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH RATE (1998-2017) 5.00% 4.91% 4.50% 4.00% 3.37% 3.50% 2.89% 3.00% 2.50% 2.41% 2.41% FATA Sindh 2.13% 2.00% 1.50% 1.00% 0.50% 0.00% ICT Balochistan KPK Punjab 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