Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 9 April

Transcription

1. April 09 , 2022 KCCI - eBulletin Business community urges SBP to take back interest rate hike The business community has sharply reacted over the steep increase in interest rate by 2.5% to 12.25% in an emergency meeting and urged the Governor SBP to immediately revisit and revert it otherwise high interest rate would completely destroy industries and exports. Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala and President KCCI Muhammad Idrees urged the Governor SBP to withdraw the irrational increase as it would prove disastrous for the economy, exports and the industries. They said that SBP’s autonomy doesn’t mean that it was free to take such a harsh step overnight which has never happened in 25 years’ history. It was highly unfair to abruptly and exorbitantly raise the interest rates without bothering to hold consultation with the stakeholders. They asked if SBP is intending to completely block the desperately needed foreign exchange being earned through exports and bring Pakistan’s economy at par with the Sri Lankan economy. BR. List of Indicators Date / Period Unit Value Change Daily USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT 8-Apr 8-Apr PKR PKR 184.68 187.18 -1.86% 0.03% KSE-100 index FIPI 8-Apr 8-Apr Pts. $ Mn 44,445 -2.92 1.50% NM** Crude Oil 8-Apr $/bbl 97.73 1.77% Gold 8-Apr $/oz 1,941.6 0.40% Gold (10g) Local 8-Apr PKR 113,860 0.46% Silver 8-Apr $/oz 24.82 0.36% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 8-Apr PKR 21,970 0.00% Low gas pressure ruins Karachiites’ Sehri and Iftar Residential consumers across the city complained of low gas pressure that is making Sehri and Iftar preparation impossible for them and claimed that SSGC remained oblivious to their plight. The city has a daily demand of 600Mn cubic feet per day (mmcfd) while 570 mmcfd is currently being supplied. Dawn. Kibor-6M 8-Apr % 13.18 -0.01% Forex Reserves 1-Apr $ Bn 17.48 WoW -5.81% Remittances Jul-Feb 22 $ Bn 20.14 7.46% Incorrect declarations: FBR restricts input adjustment of wholesalers, dealers FBR has restricted input adjustment of wholesalers, dealers and distributors to the extent of HS codes of the items, which they are actually purchasing from 1st Apr’22. FBR has investigated that the importers, wholesalers, distributors who are engaged in the business of buying and selling of same state of goods are fraudulently declaring sales of goods irrespective of their business purchases in violation of provisions of law. The FBR has issued a Sales Tax General Order (STGO) 13. BR. Exports* Jul-Mar 22 $ Bn 23.30 24.67% Imports* Jul-Mar 22 $ Bn 58.69 48.63% Trade Balance* Jul-Mar 22 $ Bn -35.39 -70.14% Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. Jul-Jan 22 Jul-Feb 22 $ Bn $ Bn -11.58 1.26 -1226.4% 6.08% Brokers directed not to accept cash The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) warned brokers against accepting funds worth more than PKR 25,000 from customers in cash. Brokerage houses must ensure that cheques or any other banking instruments that they accept are drawn on the customer’s own bank account. Dawn. EUR, 8-Apr-22, 200.3 USD, 8-Apr-22, 187.2 USD Jan-22 Apr-22 Source: KCCI Research "If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill Industrial sector creates most jobs According to a recent Labour Force Survey (LFS) published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), a majority of new jobs during the last three years have been created in the industrial sector. Pakistan’s economy created a total of 5.5Mn jobs during the past three years – 1.84Mn jobs per year on average, far higher than the yearly average of 2008-18 decade. Out of the 5.5Mn, 2.5Mn jobs were created in the industrial sector, 1.4Mn jobs in the agriculture sector and around 1.7Mn in the services sector. Tribune. 14% Govt owes OMCs PKR 55Bn in April fuel subsidy The govt. has to pay PKR 55Bn worth of price differential claims (PDC) to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and refineries in Apr’22, which the cash-strapped sector is not sure about. Under PM’s relief package, the consumer prices of Motor Spirit (petrol) and diesel were reduced by PKR 10/liter and the OMCs were told to keep the prices stable till end FY22. The News. 6% Debt servicing: Payment of $ 2.5Bn to hurt forex reserves Amid the dwindling foreign exchange reserves, Pakistan will have to pay back foreign debt of $ 2.5Bn on account of principal and mark-up obligations during the ongoing quarter (April-June) of FY22. Out of budgeted external debt servicing of $ 12.4Bn estimated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Division (EAD), he country has so far paid out approximately $ 10Bn during 9MFY22. Out of $ 12.4Bn in external debt servicing, there has been a principal amount of $ 10.4Bn and interest repayment of $ 2Bn. The News. 0% PAEC seeks PKR 14.5 per unit tariff for K-3 plant for 40 years The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has sought about PKR 14.5 per unit (7.87 US cents per unit) leveled tariff for 40 years for its second mega Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) of 1,100 megawatts at Karachi (K-3). The plant (K-3) is second of the series of two 1,100MW each nuclear plants and is currently in testing phase sending out about 1,050MW electricity to the national grid. Dawn. Oct-21 EUR Quote of the Day 16 shopkeepers held, 163 fined for profiteering The city administration has continued the crackdown on profiteers and arrested 16 shopkeepers and vendors for violating the prices fixed by the city administration. As many as 163 profiteers were fined PKR 668,000 across the city. Dawn. Steel prices rise for second time in April Flat steel industry players have hiked the price of cold rolled coils (CRCs) by around PKR 4,000 per ton to PKR 227,500 per ton. They also increased hot dipped galvanized coil (HDGC) rates by around PKR 4,000 per ton to PKR 238,800 per ton. This was a second price hike in Apr’22 and it took taking cumulative monthly increase to PKR 9,000 per ton. Tribune. Jul-21 GBP Asian Development Bank’s Forecast of Inflation in South Asia 13.3% 11.0% 12% 10% 8% 7.0% 6.5% 6.0% 5.8% 6.5% 3.0% 4% Maldives South Asia 2% India Pakistan, China to boost joint work at provincial level The sixth meeting of the Joint Working Group on Industrial Cooperation between Pakistan and China reviewed progress on special economic zones of CPEC and vowed to take forward in a pragmatic manner the ‘Framework Agreement’ the two countries signed in \ Feb’22. Provincial National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in China vowed to collaborate with Pakistan’s provincial BOIs for joint efforts to bring in meaningful foreign direct investment and strike B2B ventures. Dawn. GBP, 8-Apr-22, 241.0 Bangladesh SECP relaxes eligibility rules for GEM investors SECP has relaxed the rules for brokers to verify the eligibility of accredited individual investors for the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) board, a dedicated counter within the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for smaller and riskier companies. The accredited individual investors are required to have assets of PKR 5Mn — as opposed to the previous requirement of net assets. Dawn. 255 245 235 225 215 205 195 185 175 165 155 145 Apr-21 Nepal Lumpy Skin Disease: Saudi Arabia bans beef import from Pakistan Saudi Arabia has imposed a ban on the import of beef from Pakistan amid the outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in the country that has affected livestock. The News. Major Currencies Bhutan Industrial package: Investment opportunity is conditional concession, not amnesty scheme: FBR FBR has tried to give an impression that the investment opportunity offered to the foreign and local investors under the industrial package is not an amnesty scheme, but a conditional tax concession. FBR has issued an Income Tax Circular Number 13 of 2022 to explain the industrial package. BR. Jul-Jan 22 LSM Growth* % 7.45 % 10.77 Jul-Mar 22 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % 12.25 Apr-22 Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX , NCCPL, KSE, SBP, PBS* ** Not Meaningful, WoW= week on week; YoY=Year on Year Pakistan Oil, ghee and steel sectors: Input tax adjustment disallowed on 778 goods FBR has issued a list of 778 goods on which manufacturers of oil and ghee and steel melters/rerolling mills cannot claim input tax adjustment in their monthly sales tax return. In this connection, FBR has issued Sales Tax General Order (STGO) 12 of 2022 on the input tax adjustment to manufacturers of oil and ghee and steel sector. From 1st Apr’22, manufacturers of oil and ghee would not be entitled to claim input tax adjustment on 348 items. Steel milters and re-rollers would not be able to claim input tax adjustment on 430 items. BR. YoY Sri Lanka IMF hails 250bps hike in policy rate IMF has welcomed SBP’s Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision of raising the policy rate by 250 basis points (bps) to 12.25%. BR. Source: KCCI Research; ADB Note If any member is facing any issues pertaining to PakistanAfghanistan investment and trade policies or has project proposals is requested to share the information at secretary@kcci.com.pk for forwarding to the Board of Investment.