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Pakistan economy under the PDM government & now the caretaker administration

Shameful embarrassing leeches coŕrupt dysfunctional the traits of PDM
Petrol likely to go up by Rs.20/-,
38% inflation in country
$$ again on the up
Equity markets down
Political instability unprecedented
Reserves dwindling
IMF deal in limbo

All in all jokers playing musical chair or dancing near a fire beach or picnic at a volcano
 
Inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Index has reached the highest level in the history of the country due to an increase in the prices of petroleum products and disruption in the supply of commodities due to floods and heavy rains.

During the last one week, the weekly inflation rate in the country increased by 1.83% to reach a record high level of 44.58%.

Of the total 51 essential commodities, prices of 23 increased last week, while that of only seven decreased and 21 remained unchanged.

According to a report issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday, the prices of 23 essential commodities have increased in just one week ending on August 25, 2022.

Among the items that have become expensive, price of tomato increased by 43.09%, onion by 41.13%, potato 6.32%, eggs 3.43%, garlic 2.23%, dry milk 1.53%, dal mash 1.12%, cigarettes 2.26% and LPG 1.95%.

The items whose prices dropped include dal masoor which fell by 1.18%, vegetable ghee 1%, cooking oil 0.51%, sugar 0.07% and mustard oil 0.07%.

According to the PBS statistics, in terms of decimal point of the sensitive prices on an annual basis during the last week, the inflation rate for the group with an income up to Rs17,732 per month was 37.54%, the group having income from Rs17,733 to 22,888 rupees per month – 43.51%, Rs22,889 to Rs29,517 per month – 41.97%, Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 per month – 41.90% and the group with a monthly income above Rs44,176 – 45.28%.

Express Tribune
 
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the week in the red on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding points shortly after trading began.

By 10:46am, the benchmark had lost 652.13 points, or 1.53 per cent, to reach 41,939.38 points.

Head of Research at Intermarket Securities, Raza Jafri, said the KSE-100 index was affected by the performance of equities globally.

“Asian markets are sharply lower today, following the heavy 3pc decline in US markets on Friday. This is playing out at the KSE-100 also.”
 
Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shot up to 27.26 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Thursday.

In August 2021, CPI inflation had clocked in at 8.4pc.
 
The inflation rate in August jumped to a 47-years-high level of 27.3% due to the government’s decision to increase prices of electricity and fuel, as it burdens consumers of the petrol even more than what is required under a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday reported that the year-on-year inflation rate remained at 27.3% in August, the highest rate since May of 1975 when the reading had been recorded at 27.8%.

The adverse impacts of the floods and consequent disruption in food supplies will be visible in the inflation reading for the month of September, which may push the rate far higher than that of August.
 
I think in all honesty it's grimest possible situation. Years of mismanagement, political turmoil and now this flood of century. Pakistan is a resilient country. But there is only so much a country can bear. There is fundamental structural issue. Very troubling times ahead I am sorry to say. Imran Khan will come to power again. But this is now beyond repair. Pakistan needs to go military plus high quality technocrats way. Singapore model. Harsh laws and economy focus.
 
The performances of the PDM - comprising of amongst others PMLN(Neutrals) and PPP(Neutrals), has been a resounding sucess.

Those wishing for a military takeover clearly are economists par excellence.
 
Improvement in the external trade balance turned out to be short-lived, as Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 29% to $3.5 billion in August after the import bill hit the $6 billion mark, despite a ban and erection of non-tariff barriers.

The gap between imports and exports was $3.53 billion in August, up by 29%, or $791 million, on a month-on-month basis, reported the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

Rearing its burdensome head in August, Pakistan’s import bill crossed $6 billion, beating the government’s expectations that had hoped to build on last month’s momentum. According to PBS, there was an increase of 21% or $1.04 billion in imports in August compared to the previous month.

The federal government and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had taken administrative measures to contain imports; a ban had also been placed which proved to be largely ineffective. The central bank was also vetting almost every letter of credit, introduced import quotas and even restricted imports through open accounts.

While the government has lifted the ban on imports, the other restrictions remain in place after it faced pressure from the IMF and global trading partners.

The IMF report, released on Friday, showed that the IMF has endorsed Pakistan’s request for temporary approval of exchange measures under Article VIII of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement till June next year. The IMF report stated that given Pakistan’s upfront action of partially removing the import ban on luxury and nonessential items in August 2022, and its renewed commitment to phase out currency and imports-related restriction when the Balance of Payments (BOP) conditions stabilise, it supported the restrictions. A deadline of June 2023 has been given to eliminate the said restrictions.

With floods having wreaked havoc on standing crops across the country, the import bill is likely to come under pressure once again as the country braces itself to import additional food supplies.

On a month-on-month basis, exports jumped by 11% to $2.5 billion in August 2022 over the preceding month – an increase of $250 million. The steep reduction in exports may also become a cause for concern for the Ministry of Commerce.

For the current fiscal year 2022-23, the government has set the trade deficit target at $27.8 billion, which requires a reduction of 42% against last year’s deficit. The import target set for the new fiscal year is $65.6 billion which will require a reduction of 22% in the import bill.

In the last fiscal year, Pakistan’s trade deficit witnessed an extravagant increase at the unsustainable pace of over 55%, skyrocketing to a record $48.3 billion, due to an unmanageable increase in imports that beat all official estimates. This came despite a temporary ban on certain goods.

The higher trade deficit in the previous year took a heavy toll on the country’s foreign exchange reserves which have dropped 62% from their peak of $20 billion in August last year to $7.6 billion as of last week.

On a year-on-year basis, exports showed an increase of 11.5% in August and stood at $2.5 billion against $2.24 billion in the same month of the previous year, according to PBS. In absolute terms, there was a surge of $257 million in exports.

According to PBS, imports were lower by $543 million, or 8%, in August compared to the same month a year ago. Consequently, the trade deficit narrowed down by 18.5% year-on-year to $3.53 billion in August, a reduction of $800 million, according to the national data collecting agency.

Overall, the trade deficit during the first two months stood at $6.3 billion – down by 17% or $1.3 billion – when compared with the same period of the last fiscal year, according to the PBS. The exports remained at $4.8 billion –up by only $172 million or 3.8% during the July-August period.

The imports amounted to $11 billion – down by $1.1 billion or 9.2% – during the first two months.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2022.
 
In total disregard for the evolving flood catastrophe, the government has included four dozen new projects worth Rs78 billion in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) seemingly to appease the coalition partners and diverted Rs23 billion to finance these schemes.

The PML-N-led coalition government rushed through the approval process — a prerequisite to release funds for these 47 schemes — after the bureaucracy at the planning and development ministry refused to give funds in the absence of regulatory cover.

This comes at a time when floods have caused an estimated $11 billion to over $12 billion losses to the economy, including infrastructure.

The government has secured the approval of the majority of the members of the National Economic Council (NEC) through circulation of a summary last month and is now in the process of printing a new PSDP book, according to the sources and official documents.

“The Prime Minister/Chairman National Economic Council has been pleased to approve the proposal contained in para 6 of the summary of the Cabinet Division dated 12 August, 2022 read with para 7 of the summary dated 25th July, 2022, submitted by Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives titled Final PSDP 2022-23 in Light of NEC directions", the documents read.The NEC — the constitutional body having mandate to approve national economic and development framework — gave its stamp of approval through a circular few days ago, but without discussing the schemes in a regular meeting.

The Cabinet Division and the planning ministry had moved the summaries for the NEC approval to add 47 new schemes costing Rs77.7 billion, the documents showed.

Through the summary, the government also got the endorsement of the NEC to divert Rs22.8 billion from the already approved allocations to fund these projects.

The approval of these 47 schemes could not be secured at the time of the printing of the PSDP Book 2022-23.

The Ministry of Finance has also not included these 47 schemes in the demands for grants budget book 2022-23, according to the sources.The NEC approval was also necessitated after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had refused to give anticipatory approval to include these schemes in the PSDP document as chairman of the NEC.

Also read: Govt plans Rs800b PSDP

The decision has been made despite the finance ministry's assurances to the IMF that it would save Rs150 billion against the already low allocation of Rs727 billion for the PSDP 2022-23.Moreover, the planning ministry has also begun an exercise to divert money from the ongoing projects to finance some of the reconstruction activities in the flood-affected areas.

Due to scarcity of the resources, the finance ministry has already capped the spending to just one-tenth or Rs73 billion for the July-September quarter of this fiscal year as against the annual allocation of Rs727 billion.

The 47 schemes are over and above 68 projects that the PML-N-led government had included in the new PSDP at the time of the budget. After the inclusion of these schemes, the number of total projects to be funded from the PSDP have grown to 1178, excluding self-financed schemes by the Ministry of Energy and its attached departments.

The planning inistry’s version could not be obtained before the filing of the story.The prime minister also instructed the planning ministry that that “allocations for the projects identified by the provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan shall be accommodated to the maximum extent possible”.After the decision, the Ministry of Planning is now in a process to print a new PSDP book aimed at reflecting the wishes of its coalition partners.

The details showed that majority of these projects are related to construction of roads. Some of the schemes are as small as serving just one community, which should have excluded them from the purview of the national development budget. Others are related to university campus and hospitals.

The newly added schemes are in districts of Nawabshah, Sanghar, Chillas, Behawalpur, Basima, Washuk, Jhal Magsi Chagi, Lasbella, Khuzdar, Quetta, the constituency of NA-268 from where BNP’s Muhammad Hashim Notezai had been elected.

The schemes for Gujrat, Laki Marwat, Killa Abdullah, Pishin, Nushik and Kalat have also been included.The NEC on June 8th had approved the PSDP 2022-23, which is now being amended.

An official of the planning ministry said that the NEC had then directed that demands of provinces and special areas may be considered within the approved size of PSDP.

He said that the PSDP 2022-23 was printed and submitted to the National Assembly and Finance Division for submission as demands for grants for approval along with Budget 2022-23 which was announced on June 10 and subsequently Finance Bill 2022-23 was passed by the NA, including demand for grants for development budget on June 29.

The planning ministry official said that most of unapproved projects were processed and got approved. He said that the allocations of projects, were adjusted within the overall size of PSDP 2022-23. Similarly, the demands of provinces and Special Areas were accommodated to the extent of available fiscal space.

After the NEC’s approval through circulation, the approval of the technical supplementary grants will be secured to divert about Rs22.8 billion funds from the existing PSDP to finance these politically-motivated schemes.
 
T-bill return surges to record high at 16%
T-bills’ auction came as government was to repay the maturing papers worth Rs1.028 trillion to the commercial banks

ISLAMABAD:
The cost of commercial bank financing has hit a record high at 16% on fresh lending to the government at a time when the country is facing high inflation and busy fighting the widespread flood devastation.

The high cost of borrowing forced the government to raise Rs817 billion through the sale of its debt securities – three to 12-month treasury bills – to commercial banks, which was lower than the pre-auction target of Rs1 trillion.

The T-bills’ auction came as the government was to repay the maturing papers worth Rs1.028 trillion to the commercial banks.

The cut-off yield (cost of government borrowing) could have gone further high had the government decided to raise a higher amount. Banks offered a total of Rs1.290 trillion in financing at a cut-off yield of up to 17.50%.

“Soaring inflation in the country encouraged banks to charge a higher cost (as inflation reduces the value of money),” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) Head of Research Tahir Abbas while talking to The Express Tribune.

The inflation reading hit a 47-year high at 27.3% in August 2022. The cut-off yield went up 26 basis points to 15.99% for three-month T-bills in the auction on Wednesday compared to 15.79% in the previous auction held on August 24, 2022.

The yield on six-month bills remained unchanged at 15.84%. It rose 4 basis points to 15.97% on 12-month bills.

Abbas predicted that the government would face no difficulty in repaying the maturing debt worth over Rs1 trillion this week, despite raising a lower amount of Rs817 billion in the latest auction.

“Resumption of IMF loan programme worth $6.5 billion has provided alternative options to the government for repaying the maturing debt and finance its fiscal deficit,” he said.

Besides, it had raised larger amounts than the targets in some of the previous auctions, he said.

Rupee at 1-month low

Pakistani currency remained volatile for the fourth successive working day, as it dropped afresh 0.90% (or Rs2) to a one-month low at Rs223.42 against the dollar in inter-bank market on Wednesday.

The rupee is weakening due to the strengthening of US dollar against global currencies. Increase in demand for dollar for making import payments also hammered the rupee’s strength in the inter-bank market.

“US dollar surged to a 24-year peak against the yen and a 37-year high versus sterling as Japan’s dovish monetary policy and Europe’s economic problems contrasted with a relatively stronger US economy and a hawkish Federal Reserve determined to bring down inflation to its 2% inflation target,” Topline Securities CEO Muhammad Sohail remarked.

“The rupee is weakening due to political uncertainty, loss of confidence, higher forex needs due to flood related requirements, a backlog of letters of credit payments, higher Afghan trade, and slower inflows,” ministry of finance former advisor Dr Khaqan Najeeb observed.

Express Tribune
 
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What we left behind & how the Imported Govt, brought in through regime change conspiracy, has wreaked havoc with the economy. <a href="https://t.co/tcl3NuhehM">pic.twitter.com/tcl3NuhehM</a></p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1570717839891529738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Rulers unable to salvage economy: Imran
The only achievement of this cabal of crooks has been to get another NRO, says Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday alleged the ‘imported government’ was completely directionless and the only achievement of this ‘cabal of crooks’ had been to get another NRO for the billions they looted.

Taking to Twitter, he said, “Imported govt is completely directionless. The only achievement of this cabal of crooks has been to get another NRO for the billions they looted from Pakistan”. “Who is responsible for this conspiracy against Pakistan? What we left behind & how the imported government, brought in through regime change conspiracy, has wreaked havoc with the economy,” he wrote.

Explaining his contention with statistics, he wrote, “In terms of growth rate (6%), industry, agriculture, employment, construction, exports, remittances & tax collection - at an all-time high. Now Pakistan faces unprecedented inflation hitting everyone, unemployment, food insecurity & Rupee in freefall”.

He pointed out that IMF and World Bank reports showed the ‘imported government’ had failed to prevent economy from going into tailspin despite inheriting a stabilised economy moving on an upward trajectory. This was reflected in the Economic Survey which identified our econ performance as the best in past 70 years.”

The News PK
 
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Sunday announced that the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) confirmed the rollover of a $3 billion deposit for one more year.

The deposit was set to mature on December 5, the SBP tweeted, adding that the amount was placed with the central bank as part of its foreign exchange reserves.

“This reflects continuing strong and special relationship between KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Pakistan,” the SBP said.

The agreement for the deposit was originally signed in November 2021 with an aim to improve the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves.

The agreement was signed by SFD Chief Executive Officer Sultan Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Marshad and former SBP governor Dr Reza Baqir at the State Bank in Karachi.

In the last week of October 2021, Saudi Arabia had agreed to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about $3bn in safe deposits and $1.2bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payments. The agreement was reached during the visit of former prime minister Imran Khan to the kingdom the same month.
 
Pakistan won’t default on debts despite floods, says Miftah

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will “absolutely not” default on debt obligations despite catastrophic floods, the finance minister said on Sunday, signalling there would be no major deviation from reforms designed to stabilise a struggling economy.

Floods have affected 33 million Pakistanis, inflicted billions of dollars in damage, and killed over 1,500 people — creating concern that Pakistan will not meet debts.

“The path to stability was narrow, given the challenging environment, and it has become narrower still,” Finance Minister Miftah Ismail told Reuters at his office.

“But if we continue to take prudent decisions — and we will — then we’re not going to default. Absolutely not.”

Pakistan was able to bring an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme back on track after months of delay, thanks to tough policy decisions. But the positive sentiment was short-lived before the catastrophic rainfall hit.

Says there will be no major deviation from reforms designed to stabilise economy

Despite the disaster, Mr Ismail said that most stabilisation policies and targets were still on track, including increasing dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

Central bank reserves stand at $8.6 billion, despite the influx of $1.12bn in IMF funding in late August, which are only enough for about a month of imports. The end-year target was to increase the buffer up to 2.2 months.

He said Pakistan will still be able to increase reserves by up to $4bn, even if the floods hurt the current account balance by $4bn in more imports, such as cotton, and a negative impact on exports.

However, he estimated the current account deficit will not increase by more than $2 billion following the floods.

“Yes, there has been substantial loss to the very poorest people and their lives will never be made whole again. But in terms of servicing our external and local debt, and being micro- macro-economically stable, those things are under control.”

He said global markets were “jittery” about Pakistan, given the economy had suffered at least $18bn in losses after the floods, which could go as high as $30bn.

“Yes, our credit default risk has gone up, our bond prices have fallen. But...I think within 15 to 20 days, the market will normalise, and I think will understand that Pakistan is committed to being prudent.”

Pakistan’s next big payment — $1 billion in international bonds — is due in December, and Mr Ismail said that payment would “absolutely” be met.

He said external financing sources were secured, including over $4bn from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastr*ucture Investment Bank and World Bank. This includes $1.5bn next month from ADB under the Countercyclical Support Facility — a budget support instrument.

The minister also said about $5bn in investments from Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia would materialise in the current financial year.

The three announced interest in investing in Pakistan earlier this year, but no timelines or exact plans have been reported yet. He said $1bn in UAE investment will “definitely materialise” in the next couple of months in the form of purchases in the Pakistan stock market.

Some $3bn in Qatari investment pledges will all come within the financial year to June 2023, he added.

“They’re looking at the three airports in Pakistan, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad ... long-term leases. They’re also looking at buying two plants that run on LNG (liquefied natural gas)... those I think will probably happen this calendar year,” he said.

The finance minister said if the $3bn figure was not reached as the financial year closed, the remaining amount would go into the stock market. He also said Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had assured Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Riyadh would invest $1bn before December.

He said a legal instrument was going to be signed soon with a “friendly country” to activate a $1bn deferred payment facility for oil.

DAWN
 
daytrader said:
Pakistan won’t default on debts despite floods, says Miftah

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will “absolutely not” default on debt obligations despite catastrophic floods, the finance minister said on Sunday, signalling there would be no major deviation from reforms designed to stabilise a struggling economy.

Floods have affected 33 million Pakistanis, inflicted billions of dollars in damage, and killed over 1,500 people — creating concern that Pakistan will not meet debts.

“The path to stability was narrow, given the challenging environment, and it has become narrower still,” Finance Minister Miftah Ismail told Reuters at his office.

“But if we continue to take prudent decisions — and we will — then we’re not going to default. Absolutely not.”

Pakistan was able to bring an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme back on track after months of delay, thanks to tough policy decisions. But the positive sentiment was short-lived before the catastrophic rainfall hit.

Says there will be no major deviation from reforms designed to stabilise economy

Despite the disaster, Mr Ismail said that most stabilisation policies and targets were still on track, including increasing dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

Central bank reserves stand at $8.6 billion, despite the influx of $1.12bn in IMF funding in late August, which are only enough for about a month of imports. The end-year target was to increase the buffer up to 2.2 months.

He said Pakistan will still be able to increase reserves by up to $4bn, even if the floods hurt the current account balance by $4bn in more imports, such as cotton, and a negative impact on exports.

However, he estimated the current account deficit will not increase by more than $2 billion following the floods.

“Yes, there has been substantial loss to the very poorest people and their lives will never be made whole again. But in terms of servicing our external and local debt, and being micro- macro-economically stable, those things are under control.”

He said global markets were “jittery” about Pakistan, given the economy had suffered at least $18bn in losses after the floods, which could go as high as $30bn.

“Yes, our credit default risk has gone up, our bond prices have fallen. But...I think within 15 to 20 days, the market will normalise, and I think will understand that Pakistan is committed to being prudent.”

Pakistan’s next big payment — $1 billion in international bonds — is due in December, and Mr Ismail said that payment would “absolutely” be met.

He said external financing sources were secured, including over $4bn from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastr*ucture Investment Bank and World Bank. This includes $1.5bn next month from ADB under the Countercyclical Support Facility — a budget support instrument.

The minister also said about $5bn in investments from Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia would materialise in the current financial year.

The three announced interest in investing in Pakistan earlier this year, but no timelines or exact plans have been reported yet. He said $1bn in UAE investment will “definitely materialise” in the next couple of months in the form of purchases in the Pakistan stock market.

Some $3bn in Qatari investment pledges will all come within the financial year to June 2023, he added.

“They’re looking at the three airports in Pakistan, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad ... long-term leases. They’re also looking at buying two plants that run on LNG (liquefied natural gas)... those I think will probably happen this calendar year,” he said.

The finance minister said if the $3bn figure was not reached as the financial year closed, the remaining amount would go into the stock market. He also said Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had assured Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Riyadh would invest $1bn before December.

He said a legal instrument was going to be signed soon with a “friendly country” to activate a $1bn deferred payment facility for oil.

DAWN
Click to expand...

It will take some going to avoid the default. When Kaptaan was in power no one was talking about a default, today we are close to default. These useless crooks concentrated on killing their cases, buying the media, going on extended holidays, arresting journalists, charging Ik with terrorism and all the while the economy was being destroyed. Imported croooks have destroyed the PK economy
 
Bewal Express said:
It will take some going to avoid the default. When Kaptaan was in power no one was talking about a default, today we are close to default. These useless crooks concentrated on killing their cases, buying the media, going on extended holidays, arresting journalists, charging Ik with terrorism and all the while the economy was being destroyed. Imported croooks have destroyed the PK economy
Click to expand...

They're not imported if they are ruling without opposition for 6 months and counting.

We should rightfully conclude that the Pakistani populace want them in power and are not in a mood for any kind of revolt/revolution.
 
Varun said:
They're not imported if they are ruling without opposition for 6 months and counting.

We should rightfully conclude that the Pakistani populace want them in power and are not in a mood for any kind of revolt/revolution.
Click to expand...

No they are imported. Ask 80% of PKs and they will tell you.
 
Japan agreed on debt deferral amounting to approximately $160 million to Pakistan, as the last phase of “the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)”.

According to an official statement, prior to this, both the governments agreed on the first debt deferral amounting to nearly $370 million on April 27, 2021 and the second debt deferral amounting to $200 million on October 22, 2021, under the same initiative.
 
Bewal Express said:
No they are imported. Ask 80% of PKs and they will tell you.
Click to expand...

If 80% of Pakistanis were against this government they wouldn't have lasted 6* months. They would have long since fallen.
 
ECC okays release of stuck vehicles
Waives taxes, allows importers to take their vehicles after paying surcharges


ISLAMABAD:
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday decided to release around 700 vehicles stuck at ports, waived recently imposed taxes of up to 128% and allowed importers to get their vehicles cleared by paying surcharges.

The decision will also be applicable to other stuck goods that reached the country by August 18 and were earlier allowed to be cleared but stayed on ports. Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail virtually presided over the ECC meeting from New York.

“The ECC considered a summary of the Ministry of Commerce on the clearance of stuck consignments and directed that the consignments of previously banned items that landed in Pakistan till August 18, 2022 may be released at the rate of surcharge,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.

While lifting the ban on August 19, the cabinet gave directives for releasing the goods lying at ports on the payment of surcharges and penalties on the basis of assessed value of the goods, in the range of 5% to 100%. The cabinet approved the imposition of regulatory duty to discourage their imports.

The ECC was informed that the new rates of regulatory duty and additional customs duty had become applicable with effect from August 22 and the Goods Declarations filed on and after August 22 were subject to the new duty rates.

The Ministry of Commerce stated that some businesses had approached complaining that they were not able to get their consignments cleared because new rates of regulatory duty and additional customs duty had been added to the WeBOC system. Besides surcharges, the new duty rates had also become applicable, hence they were facing double penalty.

The ECC decided that these goods should be cleared only on the payment of surcharges. An official of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that around 700 vehicles of various engine capacities were stuck at ports that could now be cleared by paying surcharges provided the cabinet also endorsed the ECC’s decision.

The clearance of vehicles will give revenue of over Rs2 billion to the FBR that is facing challenges in meeting monthly tax targets.

Last month, the cabinet allowed the release of held-up consignments of vehicles, mobile phones and home appliances on payment of 100% penalty.

After that, the government targeted 49 tariff lines of vehicles with 10% to 100% regulatory duty and 7% to 28% additional customs duty. These duties had been waived on imports till August 18.

New and old cars of up to 1,000cc that were earlier exempted from the regulatory duty have been targeted with 100% duty, bringing total import taxes to 150%.

Vehicles that were earlier subject to 77% import taxes will now face taxes of 169% as the government has imposed 85% more regulatory duty and 7% additional customs duty.

Most expensive cars, both sports and high-engine capacity, have not been taxed heavily.

These categories of vehicles were earlier subject to total duties of 197% at the import stage. Now, the government has imposed 28% additional customs duty and only 10% additional regulatory duty.

Other decisions

The ECC approved Rs10 billion for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for the procurement of relief goods for flood victims with directives to the Finance Division to immediately release Rs5 billion, according to the finance ministry.

NDMA sought the funds for the procurement of 278,600 tents, 610,000 mosquito nets, 2,000 food packs and 50 de-watering pumps at a cumulative cost of Rs7.1 billion.

It has already procured 29,900 tents, 1.4 million mosquito nets, 82,400 food packs, 235 de-watering pumps and 12,000 water jerry cans at a cost of Rs2.4 billion.

However, the quantity and nature of procurements suggests that the NDMA was not ready to cope with any natural calamity, indicating its lack of preparedness for even small-scale disasters.

The ECC was informed that the NDMA had so far been allocated Rs8 billion for the procurement and logistics cost of relief items for the flood-hit people. It has already given orders for Rs9.5 billion worth of goods.

NDMA is also transporting the goods provided by international donors and has estimated the logistics cost at Rs5.3 billion, which also includes ground handling of flights, cargo ships and trains.

The ECC did not waive customs duty on the import of raw material of medicines, including paracetamol.

It directed the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination to withdraw the summary and submit a fresh summary on paracetamol to rationalise prices and ensure its availability.

The health ministry had proposed that 20% customs duty and 6% additional customs duty on the import of active pharmaceutical agents for the manufacturing of sulphamethoxzoie, pseudoephedrine and its salts, ephedrine and its salts, penicillins and their dericaties, cephalexin, cefixime in bulk, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, paracetamol and ibuprofen may be exempted.

Express Tribune
 
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bearish trend for the fourth consecutive session this week as investors reacted to the US Federal Reserve raising the key interest rate again.

The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 489.30 points, or 1.19 per cent, by 12:50pm to reach 40,476.28 points.

First National Equities Limited Director Amir Shehzad said equities across the world had fallen after the US Federal Reserve’s decision and the PSX was also down in line with the global trend.

A day earlier, the Fed raised the interest rate for the third consecutive time by 75 basis points, continuing forceful action to tamp down inflation.
 
Trade gap shrinks at the cost of economy
Current account deficit narrows down by 42% in Aug this year

Pakistan's current account deficit (CAD) -- the gap between country's higher foreign expenditure and low income -- narrowed down by 42% on a month-on-month basis to $703 million in the wake of meaningful rise in inflows and fall in outflows in August this year.

The notable cut in the current account deficit, however, was achieved at the cost of economic growth.

The forced cut in imports has started impacting the country's industrial output and causing the closure of their units.

Latest reports suggest a slowdown in export earnings as well.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that the current account deficit stood at $1.21 billion in the previous month of July 2022.

Cumulatively in the first two-month (July-August) of the current fiscal year 2023, the current account deficit dropped by 19% to $1.91 billion compared with $2.37 billion in the same period of the last year.

"The drop in deficit in the single month of August and cumulatively in the first two months is achieved "mainly due to increase in exports by $0.5 billion and contraction in imports by $0.2 billion [in two months]," the central bank wrote on its official Twitter handle.

The notable surge in export earnings of $533 million on a month-on-month basis to $2.81 billion in August this year was apparently seen on the back of bleak outlook for the US dollar against the local currency in the interbank market in the country.

It may be recalled that most of the Pakistani exporters did not ask their global buyers to make due payments to them in pervious couple of months e.g. June-July 2022. They had opted not to sell dollars in the interbank market, waiting for a maximum possible drop in the value of the rupee against the US dollar.

Later, they aggressively sold US dollars when the rupee resumed a partial recovery drive in August after having cumulatively lost 13.75% (or Rs29) in 10 consecutive working days to a record low closing at Rs239.94 on July 28, 2022.

Exporters usually wait for a suitable time to sell dollars, as they have a 90-day period to realise their export proceeds from their global buyers.

Secondly, the strong recovery of 8% in inflows of workers' remittances to $2.72 billion in August compared with July also supported the current account deficit to narrow down in the month.

Thirdly, the imports have reduced mainly because of a complete ban on non-essential and luxury items, while an aggressive slowdown in essential imports through administrative control also played a key role in cutting the current account deficit.

The notable cut in the current account deficit in August was higher than market exexpectation

Accordingly, this partially supported the rupee to stabilise at around current historical low levels, as the downturn in the domestic currency significantly slowed down on the 15th consecutive working day of the freefall.

The currency inched down by 0.03% (or Rs0.06) on a day-to-day basis to close at Rs239.71 against the US dollar in the interbank market on Thursday.

This is still Rs0.23 away from the all-time low closing of Rs239.94 hit on July 28, 2022.

AKD Securities CEO Farid Alam said the government's corrective measures to cool down the then overheated economy including controlling import and supporting export have helped it narrow down the current account deficit.

"The measure suggest the current account deficit would remain under control over the next three to four months," he added.

Alam said the government should strongly support import substitution industries to cut country's reliance on heavy imports. He was of the view that the strategy would not only keep the current account deficit under control, but would also save foreign exchange. “This will build up foreign reserves as well,” he added.

The recent fall in international crude oil price should also reduce country's import bill and current account deficit, as the country heavily relies on imported energy to meet the local demand.

"The benefit [of reduction in internal oil prices], however, may not reach the people due to the tight fiscal position of the government,” Alam noted.

He, however, criticised the government for allowing the US dollars fly out abroad in recent days. He also disapproved of the government showing leniency while dealing with commercial banks and currency dealers over the manipulation in the rupee-dollar parity.

"The stage is set to welcome back former finance minister Ishaq Dar in Pakistan. He knows how to deal with banks and currency dealers," he added.

The rupee has showed signs of stability at around current level below Rs240, as it has resisted time and again falling beyond the historical low level of Rs239.94 against the greenback in the past couple of days.

Earlier, experts had anticipated the rupee would settle at around the technical level of Rs240 considering it had significantly lost its value by 11.70% (or Rs25.11) in the past 15 successive working days to date.

Alam said the likely return of Dar, who is known for artificially controlling the rupee against the US dollar, might help the local currency to recover to Rs210-220.

“If floods had not made their way to impact the economy, the rupee would have been hovering around Rs200 these days,” he added.

Express Tribune
 
Moody’s on Thursday cut Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating by one notch to Caa1 from B3, citing increased government liquidity and external vulnerability risks, following the devastating floods that hit the country earlier this year.

The floods, caused by abnormal monsoon rains and glacial melt, have submerged huge swathes of Pakistan and killed nearly 1,700 people, most of them women and children.

The floods will also raise Pakistan’s external financing needs, raising the risks of a balance of payments crisis, according to the rating agency.
 
Today Dar said will give a befitting to reply to Moody's. What is he proposing? Sanctions? Rana to threaten them?
 
SBP TO ANNOUNCE NEW MONETARY POLICY TODAY

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is all set to announce its new monetary policy today (Monday) after a meeting of Pakistan’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), ARY News reported.

The MPC session will be chaired by State Bank of Pakistan governor Jameel Ahmed. This will be first meeting of MPC with Jameel Ahmed in the chair.

According to market experts, the policy rate will remain unchanged at 15% due to current economic situation of the country.

September’s inflation reading prompted this expectation of no change in the policy rate, with the consumer price index inflation (CPI) falling to 23.2 percent year-on-year from 27.3 percent in August. This decline was driven by a reduction in electricity charges.

The monetary policy will be announced via press release by the central bank after meeting.

It may be noted that the SBP has increased the rate by a cumulative 800 basis points in 11 months (September 2021 to July 2022) to 15%. The central bank maintained the rate in its previous monetary policy unveiled in August 2022.

ARY News
 
Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded the long-term deposit ratings of five Pakistani banks — Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd (UBL) — to Caa1 from B3.

It also lowered the banks’ long-term foreign currency counterparty risk ratings (CRRs) to Caa1 from B3.

“As part of the same rating action, Moody’s lowered the baseline credit assessments (BCAs) of ABL, MCB and UBL to Caa1 from B3, and as a result also downgraded their local currency long-term CRRs to B3 from B2 and their long-term counterparty risk assessments to B3(cr) from B2(cr). The BCAs of NBP and HBL were affirmed at Caa1.
 
Rates of essential items jacked up at Utility Stores
Spokesperson says prices of some commodities reduced

ISLAMABAD:
The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has further increased the prices of essential commodities including milk, tea, and cooking oil.

According to a notification issued on Thursday, the new prices will come into effect immediately.

The price of milk has been increased from Rs197 to Rs217 per litre, tea from Rs508 to Rs748 per 450g, pack of 10 teabags from Rs298 to Rs580, Peshawari kehwa from Rs108 to Rs153 per 50g, branded ghee by Rs141 per kilo, branded cooking oil by Rs141 per litre, mosquito repellent by Rs19, honey by Rs39 per 250g, toothpaste by Rs30 per 135g, and a small pack of noodles by Rs3.

Apart from this, baking powder, face cream, soap, shaving cream and glass cleaner have also gotten dearer.

On the other hand, USC spokesperson Inayatullah Daula, in a statement, said that the corporation has reduced the prices of various items. The prices of cooking oil, pulses, etc have been reduced, he added.

He said that the prices of various brands of ghee have been reduced between the range of Rs5 to Rs31 per kilo. Similarly, the prices of various pulses have been reduced in the range of Rs15 to Rs30 per kilo.

Express Tribune
 
The imports cashing in while they can. Total destruction of PK by these crooks. Its destruction that will take decades to recover from, if at all. All institutions destroyed, no justice system left, criminals given a free reign and economy destroyed.
 
Govt has enough time to stage comeback: Dar

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that 10 months were long enough for the government to stage a political comeback.

“We had to choose between saving our politics or saving the state. And we chose to save the state,” Minister Dar said at a news conference at the Pakistan embassy. “We knew it will have consequences, but we opted for the state.”

The finance minister was in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and almost all his meetings focused on the economy and the impact of the recent floods on the people and the infrastructure.

But several initial questions at the conference focused on the result of Sunday’s elections that gave an unprecedented victory to PTI. Commenting on the results, Mr Dar said that the parties now in the government were aware of “the consequences” of moving the vote of no confidence but they went for it because not doing so would have disastrous consequences for Pakistan. “Allowing the previous government to continue would have been worse than the floods,” he said.

Calls for greater policy support from IMF, donors

Asked if President Biden’s remarks on Pakistan’s nuclear programme helped Imran Khan’s election campaign, the finance minister reiterated the prime minister’s assurance that the country had a robust command and control system and US officials often acknowledged it too. “But when a politician who has been a PM (Mr Khan) says the nuclear programme was good under me, but not now, this is how the world would react,” he added. “You should condemn him; he is doing petty politics.”

In his opening statement, the minister said during his four-day stay in Washington he had 58 meetings with the chiefs of international financial institutions and with US, Saudi and other officials. The World Bank and Britain, he said, also hosted a roundtable on floods, where UNDP, ADB and WB officials presented a joint report.

According to this report, the floods have caused a total loss of over $32.4 billion to the country. Pakistan needs more than $16 billion for immediate relief and rehabilitation works. The meeting, the minister said, made a strong appeal to the international community to help Pakistan.

Donors conference in France next month
The government had already spent over Rs99bn on relief and rehabilitation works, he said, adding that Pakistan and its allies were finalising a date for the donors’ conference that would be held in France next month.

He said Pakistan would complete its current IMF programme by June 2023 and would meet all its obligations.

Reminded of an IMF official’s statement urging Pakistan to continue its fiscal and energy reforms, Mr Dar said: “We are committed to the reforms, about 5pc to 10pc of the work is pending but will soon be completed.”

On energy, he said, “We are slower than their expected but will do it too.”

During PML-N rule in 2015, he said, Pakistan had exited grey list of FATF programme and would do so again. “We have banned factions, introduced laws, and solved issues. FATF’s Asia Pacific Group (APG) has done its reviews, APG, satisfactory, we have a National Action Plan, and we hope to move to the whitelist again after the next review.”

About IMF’s objection to subsidies, raised at a news briefing during his stay, the minister said the “donor do not mind targeted subsidies. It’s the general subsidy that they are against. Perhaps, the IMF officials were referring to the electricity subsidy that we gave.” He said that during the UNGA Pakistan discussed this issue with the IMF chief and asked for a decision on this. “She promised to do so, has not responded yet but we are not doing anything without consulting them.

Responding to another question he said he had not come to Washington to seek price reduction. “We take such decisions at home.”

Blaming the previous government for the current economic situation, Mr Dar said: “Pakistan’s economy is a man-made disaster. Their incompetency, their misgovernance caused it. We are here to save the economy, not to do politics. May God accept our sacrifice.”

Earlier while addressing a meeting of MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington DC, Mr Dar called for greater policy support from the IMF and multilateral donors in the backdrop of the climate-induced catastrophe and losses suffered by the country, adds APP.

He urged the IMF to tailor its response to the situation in Pakistan and similar countries by taking into consideration the serious economic, social and political challenges that those countries were facing in the backdrop of climate-induced calamities.

Given the scale of disaster, Mr Dar pleaded more policy support for Pakistan. He welcomed new IMF instruments Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) and Food Shock Window under Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to support countries.

The IMF managing director highlighted challenges faced by regional economies including from climate change events citing Pakistan’s damaging floods. She expressed her deep sympathies with Pakistan and assured the Fund’s full support.

On the sidelines of annual meetings of IMF-WB, Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed and the finance minister met Queen Maxima of the Netherlands to discuss financial inclusion and banking on equality. Mr Dar also met Director General of Kuwait Fund Marwan Abdullah Yusuf Thunayan Al-Ghanem and appreciated the contribution of Kuwait Fund to Pakistan’s economic development.

During his meeting with Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa, Mr Dar was assured of approval of BRACE programme amounting to $1.5bn and of continued support to Pakistan. He also discussed with International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director Makhtar Diop potential means of enhancing IFC engagement in Pakistan.

In the IMF-World Banks 2022 annual meetings being held in Washington DC Mr Dar is leading Pakistan’s delegation comprising Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmed, Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, Economic Affairs Division Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz and Additional Finance Secretary Ali Tahir.

DAWN
 
Investment bank JPMorgan has called the slump in Pakistan’s bonds to just a third of their face value justified, following the country’s devastating floods and recent warnings by officials that some debt payments may need to be suspended.

Finances were already strained before this month’s floods, but the cost of repairing the damage and providing support for those affected have raised fears that the country may now default.

Read: Pakistan’s economy to slow down to 3.5pc in FY23 due to climate headwinds, ADB says

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told Reuters last week that he would ask for payments on some $27 billion worth of non-Paris Club debt largely owed to China to be pushed back, although he would not pursue actual write-offs.
 
Dar blaming the neutrals for the mess and telling everyone that the Rp is responsibility of the State bank. This cretin came in after Miftah wasnt allowed to cut petrol prices so that this loser could come in and look like the hero but its all gone pear shaped. These imports are relying on the IMF to restructure of we default and the RP hits 300. When IK was in power the RP was at 173- weak but manageable, inflation was at 12% not great but again manageable, growth was at 6%- a historic high and the exports were up by 1/3 in 3 years and these thugs came in and have literally destroyed PK. General Bajwa you need to apologise for putting criminals in charge
 
Fitch Ratings on Friday downgraded Pakistan's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CCC+' from 'B-', citing deterioration in the country’s external liquidity and funding conditions.

The rating agency stated that one of the key factors behind the decision is the decline of foreign exchange reserves due to devastating floods in the country.
 
Ahsan paints gloomy picture of economy
Predicts severe financial woes if exports failed to generate $100b in five years

ISLAMABAD:
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said that the country’s economy has been continuously contracting for the last four years and lamented the country’s abysmal development record during the previous government of PTI.

Ahsan bemoaned that in the last four years, a large chunk of funding for the provinces weighed down the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), adding that 42 per cent of schemes were included in the programme due to which there was little to nothing left for the federal projects.

The federal minister expressed these views while briefing a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning presided over by Khalid Magsi.

He told the committee that his predecessors refrained from crafting substantial policies and indulged in adhocism. Painting a grim picture of the economy, he said the country could get rid of its economic woes if it managed to generate $100 billion in five years.

The minister said that there is a need to increase domestic exports from $30 billion to $100 billion in the next five years to cope with the external financial needs of the country.

He said the annual funding requirements for Pakistan’s development programme were over Rs1900 billion, however, the government could manage to set aside only Rs700 billion for the current financial year due to financial constraints in the ongoing fiscal year.

The minister said that the PML-N government gave Vision 2010 and then Vision 2025 during its tenure, but the previous government failed to approve the five-year plan.

He further said that the former government kept calling everyone thieves, and it angered China by accusing the friendly country of expensive projects. “We are now restoring China’s confidence, and the government is all set to hold the 11th meeting of the Pakistan-China Joint Coordination Committee on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).”

Ahsan Iqbal added that the whole government was running on borrowing as the tax and non-tax revenues of the federal government would be Rs9000 billion this year, out of which Rs4000 billion would go to the provinces, and Rs4000 billion would be spent on repaying debts.

China has the grand Belt and Road Initiative plan and Pakistan has the advantage of its location, he said, adding that benefiting from this advantage, we can become a trade hub between a large region.

He said that China also has the advantage of getting an alternative corridor in CPEC. If even 5 per cent of China’s trade starts from Pakistan, it will be of great benefit to Pakistan.

Chinese companies have set up energy projects in IPPs mode, he said, adding that the concessional loans were given by China for infrastructure projects.

The minister said due to the high cost of labour in China, more than 80 million new employment opportunities were being created from which Pakistan could benefit.

Ahsan Iqbal said that during the Tehreek-i-Insaaf tenure, there were problems regarding visas for Chinese companies. He said that after the 18th amendment, 58% of the revenue under NFC goes to the provinces, and the continuation of economic development policies on a sustainable basis and political stability is necessary.

In the meeting, member committee Syed Mahmood Shah complained that in his constituency, not a single project was included in the PSDP 2022-23.

Express Tribune
 
Stocks continued to fall for the third consecutive day on Friday, with analysts attributing the slump to the PTI’s long march and investors’ shifting positions.

The benchmark KSE-100 index was down 369.29 points, or 0.89 per cent, to reach 41,233.57 points at 3:19pm.

Aba Ali Habib Securities’ Salman Naqvi said the market had been under pressure for the last few sessions, the primary reason for which was political instability and the PTI’s long march to Islamabad, which has begun from Lahore today. The march has created uncertainty, he added.

A large number of PTI supporters had gathered in Lahore’s Liberty Chowk, from where Imran Khan is leading the anti-government protest march that is scheduled to reach Islamabad on November 4. The purpose of the march is to pressure the government to call early election in the country.
 
Weekly inflation surges to record 4.13pc as energy, food prices spike

ISLAMABAD: The weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), posted a record increase of 4.13 per cent for the combined income group on a week-on-week basis for the period ending Oct 27 mainly due to the highest-ever energy and food prices, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

After rebasing, the SPI recorded the second highest week-on-week increase of 3.68pc on Sept 22 driven by an increase in fuel adjustment prices in the electricity bills of consumers.

On a year-on-year basis, the weekly inflation recorded an increase of 30.68pc. The annual increase in SPI has been on the decline for some time, falling from a peak of 45.5pc in the week ending Sept 1. Other notable mentions: 44.6pc (Aug 25), 42.7pc (Sept 8), 42.3pc (Aug 18). Prices rose at such a fast pace recently on the back of surging food and fuel prices.

A World Bank report estimated that the average Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation in Pakistan would rise to 23pc in the current fiscal year from 12.2pc a year ago due to higher domestic energy prices, flood disruptions and a weaker rupee.

The SBP has been tightening its monetary policy to contain surging inflation and the rupee’s rapid depreciation. Since September 2021, the central bank has increased the policy rate by a cumulative 800bps to 15pc, the highest rate since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Soaring vegetable prices due to damage to the standing crops and a massive hike in electricity rates have also contributed to pushing up inflation.

The International Monetary Fund said in its country’s staff report that the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was expected to surge to 20pc in the current financial year, while core inflation would also remain elevated due to higher energy prices and the rupee’s decline.

The PMLN-led coalition government has projected a modest inflationary annual target of 11.5pc for the ongoing fiscal year. The government revived the Monitoring Price Committee headed by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal which convened only one meeting after its revival, clearly showing the government’s seriousness.

The SPI monitors the prices of 51 essential items based on a survey of 50 markets in 17 cities across the country. During the week under review, the prices of 21 out of 51 items increased, 16 decreased, and 14 remained stable.

In the food group, the items that saw the highest week-on-week increase in prices include powdered salt (2.57pc), tea Lipton (1.89pc), rice Irri-6/9 (1.24pc) and garlic (1.04pc).

In the non-food group, on a week-on-week basis, the electricity price increased (89.34pc), energy saver (1.57pc) and firewood (1.31pc).

On a year-on-year basis, the items whose prices jumped the most included onions (177.37pc), tomatoes (84.17pc), diesel (74.51pc), pulse gram (64.73pc), petrol (62.75pc), cooking oil 5 litre (55.13pc), washing soap (54.97pc), pulse moong (54.19pc), pulse masoor (52.33pc), vegetable ghee 2.5 Kg (52.31pc), gents sponge chappal (52.21pc), mustard oil (50.97pc), pulse mash (50.08pc) and vegetable ghee 1 Kg (49.44pc).

DAWN
 
Business confidence drops to lowest level in Pakistan: Gallup survey

KARACHI: Entrepreneurs are getting increasingly pessimistic about the conditions of their businesses owing to the country’s political and economic situation, according to a Gallup Pakistan survey conducted in the ongoing quarter of 2022.

The Gallup Business Confidence Index showed 65 per cent of business owners believe their businesses are facing bad conditions.

Industrial machines businesses are doing the best out of all types of businesses, with 75pc of them believing that conditions are good. Cloth and garment shops are experiencing the worst level of confidence, with 81pc of them saying business conditions are bad.

Findings of the survey show the Net Future Business Confidence score has worsened by 50pc since the beginning of 2022 and is now at -10pc.

Gallup survey says inflation, loadshedding worrying business community

Compared to earlier this year, the number of businesses saying the country is headed in the wrong direction has gone up by 32pc. Less than 15pc of businesses in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe that the country is headed in the right direction.

Similar to the findings of the survey conducted in the first quarter of 2022, the latest poll shows inflation remains the “most-cited” problem that businesses would like the government to solve by the end of this year.

As many as 72pc of the businesses surveyed reported experiencing loadshedding every day. A considerable increase in the number of businesses experiencing loadshedding was witnessed in the fourth quarter. About 19pc of the businesses that reported facing loadshedding within a day experienced it for two hours, the survey showed.

As many as 81pc of the businesses said they do not believe the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted versus 7pc in the first quarter of 2022. More businesses from Balochistan disagree with the idea that the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted than any other province, survey results showed.

One-quarter of the businesses surveyed reported their establishment was visited by tax officials, down 12pc from the previous survey.

A sample of more than 700 business owners and managers across Pakistan were asked how well their businesses were doing. After Covid-19 peaked, businesses started to express greater confidence. But this confidence plummeted between the beginning and the end of 2022.

“This sudden change, and a 63pc fall in the Current Business Situation score, may be due to the continuous political instability over the year,” it said.

The survey asked business owners which problems were affecting their businesses considerably. Besides inflation, “customer shortage” was a problem that 8pc of them faced. High taxes were also perceived as a problem by 4pc of businesses.

“Gallup Business Confidence Report for the fourth quarter of 2022 paints a bleak picture. The index values are the worst since Gallup started the project in 2019, which includes Covid-19 times,” said Bilal Ijaz Gilani, executive director of the Gallup Pakistan and chief architect of the Gallup Pakistan Business Confidence Index.

“The report comes after Pakistan faced the worst floods in decades. The business community awaits strong and decisive steps by the government,” he added.

DAWN
 
Stocks closed in the red on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index losing 234.4 points, or 0.56 per cent, to close at 41,856.31 points.

The index saw an intraday low of 369.81 points, or 0.88pc, around 2:55pm.

Head of Equities at Intermarket Securities, Raza Jafri, said the market opened on a weak note as expected after yesterday’s assassination attempt on former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

“Volumes are thin as investors wait for more clarity. The near-term outlook depends on if political polarisation intensifies from here on, or if cooler heads prevail and tempers are scaled back,” he commented on the early morning fall.
 
Stocks jump 318 points on expected $13bn from Saudi, China

The stock market opened the week in green owing to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement last week that Pakistan had secured about $13 billion in additional financial support from China and Saudi Arabia, analysts said.

The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 317.68 points, or 0.76 per cent, to reach 42,173.99 points at 10:04am.

Head of Equities at Intermarket Securities, Raza Jafri, said while the stock market rose in reaction to expected support from China and Saudi Arabia which would help the country’s balance of payments position, the gains were in check since political developments loomed large in the background.

He was referring to the resumption of the PTI’s long march to Islamabad on Tuesday (tomorrow), which was halted last week after the assassination attempt on party chief Imran Khan.

Aba Ali Habib Securities Head of Research Salman Naqvi seconded Jafri’s view, saying that besides China and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan was also receiving “good support” from other countries such as Qatar.

“This is good news and Ishaq Dar says the dollar will come below Rs200 soon. The last two days have gone by without problems so the tension on the political front has been reduced. This is the reason the market is performing well,” he commented.

Meanwhile, First National Equities Limited Director Amir Shehzad said political temperature that had increased after Thursday’s attack on Imran had “cooled down a bit”. Consequently, investors had regained confidence.

“Hopefully, things will remain in control in the future and … the market should perform better from here on,” he added.

On Friday, the index had tanked as soon as the opening bell rang and then kept losing ground throughout the day. The growing political conflict after the attack on Imran made investors shy away from the equity market and dried up volumes across the board.

Later that day, Finance Minister Dar told journalists that during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Beijing, the Chinese leadership promised to roll over $4bn in sovereign loans, refinance $3.3bn commercial bank loans and increase currency swap by about $1.45bn — from 30bn yuan to 40bn yuan. The total worked out at $8.75bn.

“They promised the security of financial support,” Dar said and quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping as telling Shehbaz, “don’t worry, we will not let you down.”

Responding to a question, he said Saudi Arabia had also “given a positive response” to Pakistan’s request for increasing its financing by another $3bn to $6bn and doubling its deferred oil facility of $1.2bn.

DAWN
 
NEARLY 3000 CONTAINERS STUCK AT PORT QASIM FOR VARIOUS REASONS

ISLAMABAD: The senate standing committee on finance was told that thousands of containers are stranded at Port Qasim Karachi because of clearance issues.

As per details, the federal board of revenue (FBR) Chairman Asim Ahmad told the senate standing committee on finance that nearly 3000 containers are stuck at port Qasim amid clearance issues.

The FBR chairman apprised the senate committee that the food and cosmetics items in 640 containers are already expired. The rest of the containers have mobile phones, vehicles, home appliances and furniture.

These containers are stuck because of container import policy orders, misdeclaration and the letters of credit (LCs) weren’t open, while some were struck due to the import ban.

ARY
 
The State Bank of Pakistan is expected to keep the main policy rate unchanged at 15 per cent in its monetary policy announcement scheduled for tomorrow, according to analysts and economists.

All seven experts who spoke to Dawn.com said they expected the central bank to maintain rates, with many pointing out that a slowdown in economic activity had begun and inflation, which has been at decades-high level in the past few months, will be trending down.

In October, headline inflation clocked in at 26.6pc from a year earlier, reversing the trend witnessed in September when the consumer price index rose 23.2pc, slowing from a four-decade high of 27.3pc in August.

The central bank has raised interest rates by 525 basis points this year, with the last hike of 125 bps coming in July. Since then, the SBP has maintained rates in two monetary policy meetings despite no arrest in inflation.
 
Pakistan foreign reserve, according to some economists are now lower or equal to, than of Afghanistan's.


Shame on establishment who brought the country's economy to it's knees, shame on all these haram khore politicians, and shame on all the corrupt and rotten elements in Pakistani public who support these PDM imbeciles.
 
 
Hextro said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From 13-18 our exports declined by 38pc from 13.5% to 8.5% of GDP & we ran the second-largest current account deficit. The issue was a currency pegged to a dollar that highly subsidised imports & made them surge even as our exports were getting priced out. <a href="https://t.co/BEPUpDswE2">https://t.co/BEPUpDswE2</a></p>— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1596778195722072064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

Straight from the house's mouth. Are there any PDM supporters that have the shame to respond to their useless ex-finance minister's comments? Or are you surprised to learn that the parties that have ruled Pakistan for over 35 years have created a disgusting system that makes sure that incompetent criminals like them are never punished for their actions? Do you guys ever think about why Pakistan faces the same economic issues over and over again? This must be due to PTI's rule of 3.5 years during two major crises in your mind.

During the period of 2013-18 not only did PMLN reduce Pakistan's exports(reducing exports is unheard of in most countries) but it also almost doubled Pakistan's imports which caused Pakistan to have the biggest balance of payments crisis in its history. Pakistan's "growth" during that period was solely due to the consumption of goods and services we couldn't afford. We had to use our dwindling reserves to finance our massive import bill so Pakistan was left with only $16.4 Billion in total reserves by 2018. Pakistan had major debt repayments due a few weeks after PTI was elected so our reserves fell further even after PMLN left office.

PMLN has no excuse. During PMLN's term, there was no major world crisis that caused a major slowdown in the economy, the only major crisis they faced was their own past catching up to them, but that's par for the course for current lunatics like the PDM party members. Unlink now during 2013-18 commodity and fuel prices were record low so there's no justification for having a massive import bill. I wouldn't even have a problem with high imports if they were importing raw materials and machinery that could be used to increase production capacity domestically but PDM has proven that they are dumber than a kindergartener and more corrupt than a million thieves put together. The increase in imports paid no divides for Pakistan. They were largely importing useless junk.

All in all, it takes a special type of person to support PDM nowadays and unfortunately, we have a ton of special people in this country.
 
Meanwhile…national embarrassment Shehbaz is in Turkey with a begging bowl asking his “masters” for money so his son’s business can flourish. The guy is on his knees begging.
 
offstump said:
Meanwhile…national embarrassment Shehbaz is in Turkey with a begging bowl asking his “masters” for money so his son’s business can flourish. The guy is on his knees begging.
Click to expand...

Shehbaz "US is our ventilator", "Beggars can't be choosers", "my investor is my master" Sharif
 
Hextro said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From 13-18 our exports declined by 38pc from 13.5% to 8.5% of GDP & we ran the second-largest current account deficit. The issue was a currency pegged to a dollar that highly subsidised imports & made them surge even as our exports were getting priced out. <a href="https://t.co/BEPUpDswE2">https://t.co/BEPUpDswE2</a></p>— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1596778195722072064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...
Miftah is having an epiphany. Its what we have said for years but Mafia apologists like [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] and others dont have the basic economic literacy to understand. Well boys does this bring home to you? I suppose when you support murderers and called brave Shaheeds " cowards", this is just water off a ducks back.
 
Have a feeling Miftah is going to be kicked out of PML N or not be given a ticket down the line.

Heard he was disliked immensely inside the PML N especially by the Shareef family and Ishaq Daar because he would call it as it is and was never an *** kisser.

PTI people have in private spoken very highly on Miftah Ismail and his knowledge.
 
Savak said:
Have a feeling Miftah is going to be kicked out of PML N or not be given a ticket down the line.

Heard he was disliked immensely inside the PML N especially by the Shareef family and Ishaq Daar because he would call it as it is and was never an *** kisser.

PTI people have in private spoken very highly on Miftah Ismail and his knowledge.
Click to expand...

It's a terrible indictment of govt when the ex Minister from your own partu destroyed the central plank of your economic policy
 
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 index plunged over 700 points right after the opening bell on Monday, with the sharp slump being attributed to the central bank’s surprise move to hike the policy rate by 100 basis points on Friday evening.

The index was down 654 points, or 1.52 per cent, to reach 42,282.48 points at 10:02am.

Head of Research at Intermarket Securities, Raza Jafri, said the market had opened sharply negative as it factored in higher interest rates and continued uncertainty on the political front after Imran Khan’s threat to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

“Support may come in later on, as positives such as Pakistan’s intent to repay its maturing Sukuk ahead of schedule and the end to the long march, which risked street confrontation,” he added.
 
What absolute shambles under PDM. Where are all the PDM minions who were so anti Imran? You barely see them here defending their clowns running a total circus
 
Kriketer said:
What absolute shambles under PDM. Where are all the PDM minions who were so anti Imran? You barely see them here defending their clowns running a total circus
Click to expand...

Just like the Lifafa PDM News Anchors who were ruthlessly bashing the PTI govt every hour every day for economic mismanagement, deteriorating economic indicators but have suddenly just gone silent, have disappeared even though the economic mismanagement and economic indicators are ten times worse than the PTI govt.

The only thing celebrated or talked about are the minor wins over PTI but for them the state of the economy is not even a concern anymore.
 
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Tuesday that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) had transferred $500 million to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

“AIIB has transferred today, as per their board’s approval, to State Bank of Pakistan/Government of Pakistan $500 million as programme financing,” the minister said on Twitter
 
Govt aims to abolish interest-based system in five years, says Dar

While welcoming a decision of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the government aims at abolishing riba in the next five years.

The FSC declared a number of laws of the country repugnant to the injunctions of Islam, as they have provided for charging or paying interest, which according to the findings of the FSC, fall within the definition of riba.

"Earning money through interest is easy but it is not legitimate," Dar said while addressing a seminar in Karachi on Wednesday organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers and Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Markaz Al Aqtisaad Al Islami.

The financial czar said that the government aimed at abolishing the prevailing interest-based system in the country.

"If we sincerely decide only to please the Almighty then in five years riba can be eliminated from the country and it can be replaced by a system based on Zakat and Ushr," he added.

Dar said that he had instructed the secretary finance to first seeks loans on Islamic Sukook Bonds and only take interest-based loans when there is no other option.

"I wish that Allah grants me powers so I could eliminate interest in a week or a month but a state has [to conduct] its business and interest-bases system has been in place for the past 75 years," he added.

Welcoming the FSC's decision, he said that the percentage of Islamic banking in the country had already reached 20 to 21 per cent, adding that the government aims to completely implement Islamic banking in the next five years.

Dar expressed concern that two state institutions — the State Bank of Pakistan and the National Bank of Pakistan — appealed against the Shariat court's decision. "Now, we have taken those appeals back."

https://tribune.com.pk/story/238885...-interest-based-system-in-five-years-says-dar
 
After Miftah destroyed Darnomics in an in DAWN article last week, Dar has struck back and blamed Miftah for the terrible mess these idiots have got PK into. For all intents and purposes we are bankrupt and the blame lies entirely with Bajwa and his crooks. [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] guys what happened. Tuss from both of you
 
Bewal Express said:
After Miftah destroyed Darnomics in an in DAWN article last week, Dar has struck back and blamed Miftah for the terrible mess these idiots have got PK into. For all intents and purposes we are bankrupt and the blame lies entirely with Bajwa and his crooks. [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] guys what happened. Tuss from both of you
Click to expand...

You're asking them as if they know anything about the economy. If they knew the bare basics they'd be cursing PDM, or maybe not considering their severe bias.
 
Hextro said:
You're asking them as if they know anything about the economy. If they knew the bare basics they'd be cursing PDM, or maybe not considering their severe bias.
Click to expand...
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] used to come economic threads pretending that he knew something until he got exposed on why CAD was important. Maybe he can ask Miftah or Munshi about CAD. [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] used to drone on about inflation but has disappeared like a ghost with not a word to say.
 
Last edited:
Bewal Express said:
After Miftah destroyed Darnomics in an in DAWN article last week, Dar has struck back and blamed Miftah for the terrible mess these idiots have got PK into. For all intents and purposes we are bankrupt and the blame lies entirely with Bajwa and his crooks. [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] guys what happened. Tuss from both of you
Click to expand...

These two have stopped talking about the economy for the past 8 months just like the lifafa journalists like Mansoor Ali Khan, Sana Bucha, Ghareeda Farooq, Najam Sethi etc
 
PKR has collapsed, currently 275 rupees to the GBP. This is the worst government in Pakistans history, it wasn't even elected. I see many dark days ahead. I seen people selling their house furniture to pay their electricity bills. People are really struggling with inflation but media is zipped now.
 
Hammad flays govt for bad economics
PTI leader tells govt to 'let others come' if it can't run the country

Slamming the federal government for its economic policies, (PTI) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Hammad Azhar on Monday said that the economy is deteriorating, and the dollar is not even available even at the existing rate.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, he said that LCs of spare parts have not been opened.

He added that the market lost its trust during Miftah Ismail’s time and now Ishaq Dar is in the same situation.

He further said that the government is counting on Beijing and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to save it.

“This government is not running this economy, it has never been disclosed who the minister of energy is,” he remarked.

The former federal minister said that the only way forward is to give everything to a caretaker government and bring in a new government.

He also called for reducing unnecessary expenses.

Flaying the government, he said that if a journalist says something like this, he will be killed outside.

“The people and their opinion should be recognised first,” he demanded.

“In our era, if something was lacking, people used to hold shows against it,” he said. “Anchors who had become self-proclaimed economic experts have not closed their mouths shut.”

“They are afraid of Imran Khan, this is why there are not coming to the forefront,” he further said.

Azhar said that the government first made oil more expensive, then they said that the money is coming from Qatar, and the flood relief money is coming as well. “If you are not doing anything, let others come,” he said.

“The entire economy and social order were paralysed due to the fear of Imran Khan,” the former minister said.

“The economy cannot survive anymore; the private sector does not have the dollars to buy raw materials,” he said.

“Even his ministers do not care about Dar Sahib,” he claimed.

He further said that the PTI will only discuss immediate elections with the government.

Express Tribune
 
The Finance Division said on Tuesday that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the ninth review of Pakistan’s $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) were at the “advanced stage”.

“With the efforts of the current government, the IMF programme has come back on track,” it stated in a press release.

Pakistan entered a $6bn IMF programme in 2019 and its ninth review is currently pending with remote talks being held between IMF officials and the government for the release of $1.18bn.

Earlier, Dawn reported that Pakistan and IMF had had a round of engagement on November 18 but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review.
 
Pakistan projected to be among largest economies in the world by 2075

Pakistan projected to be among largest economies in the world by 2075: Goldman Sachs

A research paper published by Goldman Sachs on Tuesday projected Pakistan to be the sixth largest economy in the world by 2075 given “appropriate policies and institutions” are in place.

Authored by economists Kevin Daly and Tadas Gedminas and titled ‘The Path to 2075’, the paper projected that the five largest economies by 2075 will be China, India, the US, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Goldman Sachs has been projecting long-term growth of countries for almost two decades now, initially starting out with BRICs economies, but for the past 10 years they have expanded those projections to cover 70 emerging and developed economies.

Their latest paper covers 104 countries with projections going as far as 2075.

Pakistan’s star future status is predicted on the back of its population growth, which along with Egypt and Nigeria, could place it among the largest economies in the world in the next 50 years, according to Goldman Sachs.

By that time, the research projects Pakistan’s Real GDP to have grown to $12.7 trillion and its GDP per capita to $27,100.

These numbers, however, are projected to be less than a third of the size of China, India and the US. India’s Real GDP in 2075 is projected at $52.5 trillion and per capita GDP at $31,300.

Among key risks to their projections, the economists particularly highlight “environmental catastrophe” and “populist nationalism”.

Unless a path to sustainable growth is ensured through a globally coordinated response, climate change could heavily skew these projections, particularly for countries like Pakistan, with geographies that are especially vulnerable.

With populist nationalists coming to power in many countries, the report says it might lead to increased protectionism that could potentially result in the reversal of globalisation, thereby increasing income inequality across countries.

Other key projections

Global growth on a declining path

The paper notes that global growth has slowed from an average of 3.6 per cent per year in the past 10 years to 3.2pc, and the slowdown has been relatively broad-based.

They project global growth will average 2.8pc between 2024 and 2029 and will be on a gradually declining path.

The rise of emerging markets

While global growth is dipping, emerging economies are growing faster than developed markets and will continue to converge with them.

“The weight of global GDP will shift (even) more towards Asia over the next 30 years nations as China, the US, India, Indonesia and Germany top the league table of largest economies when measured in dollars. Nigeria, Pakistan and Egypt could also be among the biggest.”

Declining global population

The decline in global growth will be driven by the decline in population growth, which UN projections imply will fall to close to zero by 2075. The paper says this is a “good problem to have” as it mitigates damages to the environment but could pose economic problems arising from high healthcare costs and an ageing population.

US won’t repeat exceptional growth

The US won’t be able to repeat its strong performance from the last decade, with potential growth remaining “significantly lower” than that of large developing economies.

The US dollar is also projected to lose strength in the next 10 years.

Less global inequality, more local inequality

Emerging markets’ convergence has led to falling income inequality between economies but income inequality within most economies has risen. This poses a major challenge to the future of globalisation.

DAWN
 
Heard Dar and PML-N are seaking vengeance against Miftah Ismael and have sent a couple of his corruption cases to NAB and the Senate.
 
Business confidence nosedives

KARACHI: Business confidence has nosedived in the last six months across different sectors of the economy, according to the Business Confidence Index (BCI) Survey (Wave-22) released by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI).

Conducted across the country in September-October, the survey said the overall Business Confidence Score (BCS) dropped to negative four per cent, down 21 percentage points from the previous score of 17pc recorded in Wave-21 held in March-April.

“The substantial decline in the overall business confidence to negative 4pc is regrettable but not surprising considering the highly challenging political and economic situation during the past six months. Besides, high inflation, increased fuel prices and significant currency devaluation also dampened economic activity,” said OICCI President Ghias Khan.

“The record level of rains during August leading to severe flooding in Sindh and other parts of the country further restricted business activities,” he said.

The highest drop in confidence was recorded in the services sector (24 percentage points), followed by retail and wholesale trade (22 percentage points) and manufacturing sector (20 percentage points).

The survey sample consisted of 42pc respondents from the manufacturing sector, 33pc from the services sector and 25pc from the retail and wholesale trade.

Despite a significant drop in confidence of 20 percentage points, the manufacturing sector recorded a net confidence level of positive three percentage points, whereas services and retail sector stood at negative eight and 14 percentage points, respectively.

The OICCI conducts this survey periodically and face-to-face in nine cities covering 80pc of GDP, with higher weightage given to key business centres of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Faisalabad.

The OICCI survey feedback covers the business environment at regional, national, sectorial and entity levels in the past six months in addition to shedding light on the anticipated business and investment environment in the next six months.

Overall, 56pc of survey respondents were “negative” on the business environment in the past six months versus 19pc in the previous wave. Going forward, only 2pc respondents were “positive” for the next six months as opposed to 18pc in the previous survey.

The confidence level of OICCI members — leading foreign investors who were randomly included to the survey — stood at positive 6pc, substantially lower than positive 33pc in the previous wave. Foreign investors have in the past also shown higher business confidence than non-members.

Mr Khan observed that foreign investors’ feedback could’ve been more positive if it wasn’t for their concerns about a few critical issues like the delays in the revision of pharma pricing and in the processing of overseas remittances for goods, services and dividends. “Such actions are counter-productive for foreign direct investment,” he said.

The three major threats to business growth identified in the survey are inflation (78pc), high taxation (71pc) and currency devaluation (70pc).

Looking ahead, only 18pc respondents — as opposed to 34pc in Wave-21 — expected expansion in business operations. About 2pc respondents were planning new capital investment as opposed to 21pc previously. Around 7pc respondents expected increased employment in their respective businesses versus 16pc six months ago.

Commenting on the survey, PTI Secretary General Asad Umar said the incompetent and inept government’s flawed policies and “worst fascism” have caused a “colossal damage” to the national economy in the last eight months.

DAWN
 
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plunged $784 million to a nearly four-year low of $6.72 billion during the week that ended on Dec 2, the central bank said on Thursday.

According to the central bank data, the SBP reserves were last recorded below this level during the week ended on Jan 18, 2019, when it had some $6.64bn.

Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks now stand at $5.867bn, meaning the country’s total liquid foreign reserves are now $12.58bn.

Strengthening the foreign exchange reserves remained the top agenda of the new government since it took the helm in April. However, SBP’s reserves have since dropped by more than $4bn from around $10.9bn at the time.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1725414/sbps-forex-reserves-fall-to-near-four-year-low
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">one prov to another under multiple false FIRs against him in total violation of all laws & basic human rights enshrined in our Constitution. In contrast an absconder responsible for billions in corruption & money laundering, Salman Shahbaz, is drycleaned & returns to Pak.</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1601883973235384321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
I haven't had a chance to post here for a while but just wondering if PDM supporters like Mamoon are enjoying the great performance of their experienced crooks?

This is a massive tragedy as it impacts millions of lives so not celebrating but it is frustrating to people like us who kept repeating times were difficult so stop playing politics but PDM apologists kept dancing in excitement how Imran Khan destroyed Economy (In reality, majority of issues were due to worldwide inflation, commodities super cycle & Russia-Ukr war).
PDM had to jump in to throw a government at such a crucial stage to save Pakistan, now imagine PDM is coalition of 13 parties that ruled Pakistan with decades of experience and what is the result? Double the inflation in 8 months, Dollar rate unstoppable, growth/exports/remittances all going down and business closing.
Even now they shamefully claim it's all because of Imran Khan :facepalm: If it's all because of him then why did you have to jump in to make it far worse? Bacha liya mulk? ho gayi kam inflation? Oh yes, you changed NAB laws which was your aim and all of you are free from corruption cases (majority of which you filed against each other NOT Imran Khan).
 
Waseem said:
I haven't had a chance to post here for a while but just wondering if PDM supporters like Mamoon are enjoying the great performance of their experienced crooks?

This is a massive tragedy as it impacts millions of lives so not celebrating but it is frustrating to people like us who kept repeating times were difficult so stop playing politics but PDM apologists kept dancing in excitement how Imran Khan destroyed Economy (In reality, majority of issues were due to worldwide inflation, commodities super cycle & Russia-Ukr war).
PDM had to jump in to throw a government at such a crucial stage to save Pakistan, now imagine PDM is coalition of 13 parties that ruled Pakistan with decades of experience and what is the result? Double the inflation in 8 months, Dollar rate unstoppable, growth/exports/remittances all going down and business closing.
Even now they shamefully claim it's all because of Imran Khan :facepalm: If it's all because of him then why did you have to jump in to make it far worse? Bacha liya mulk? ho gayi kam inflation? Oh yes, you changed NAB laws which was your aim and all of you are free from corruption cases (majority of which you filed against each other NOT Imran Khan).
Click to expand...

The real mir jaffers of this country are the PDM paid liffafa journalists, Major, Mamoon who are in deep badniyati staying silent over the catastrophic economic failures of the PDM govt.
 
Savak said:
The real mir jaffers of this country are the PDM paid liffafa journalists, Major, Mamoon who are in deep badniyati staying silent over the catastrophic economic failures of the PDM govt.
Click to expand...

Calling out some simpletons like [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] allows us to let off some steam but a total catastrophe has unfolded in front of our own eyes. It's not as if the Generals weren't warned by Kaptaan that this would happen but Bajwa and the East Ind company agents couldn't resist the allure of power. Result- millions of PKs and PK thrown into chaos.
 
Stocks plummet by 613 points on delay in IMF review, political uncertainty

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell by more than 600 points in early trade on Thursday, with analysts attributing it to delays in the completion of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ninth review and rising political uncertainty.

The benchmark KSE-100 index had lost 613.5 points, or 1.47 per cent, at 10:21am to reach 41,124.12 points.

Head of Equity at Intermarket Securities Raza Jafri said market sentiment was weak on apprehensions that the release of the IMF tranche could possibly be delayed till next year.

Pakistan entered a $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, which was increased to $7bn earlier this year. The programme’s ninth review is currently pending with remote talks being held between IMF officials and the government for the release of $1.18bn.

Pakistan and IMF had a round of engagement on November 18 but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review.

The talks, originally due in the last week of October, were rescheduled to Nov 3 and then kept on facing delays following gaps in estimates by the two sides.

Jafri added, “Valuations are certainly cheap but there could be residual pressure from redemptions today, with tail-end flows shifting towards fixed income.”

Dalal Securities CEO Siddique Dalal said the index fell because of some companies’ redemptions. In addition, public confidence was eroding and people were exhausted due to which buying had stopped, he said.

Meanwhile, First National Equities Limited Director Amir Shehzad said the primary reason for the slump was political uncertainty.

“There are a few reasons [for the fall]. One is [PTI Chairman] Imran Khan’s statement that he will announce on the 17th when he plans to dissolve the [Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] assemblies. Consequently, there is a lot of political uncertainty due to which there is immense pressure on the market.

“Secondly, the issues with the IMF have not been resolved yet,” he said, adding that talks of default were also affecting market sentiment.

The PTI plans to conclude its rallies under the “election karao, mulk bachao (hold elections, save the country)” campaign by Friday, and on Saturday hold a ‘large’ public gathering in the provincial capital where party chief Imran will announce his ‘final’ plan to dissolve the two provincial assemblies his party heads.

DAWN
 
Pakistan has surprisingly reported a 19-month-low current account deficit (CAD) at $276 million for November 2022, thanks to a significant reduction in imports through administrative controls, but it came at the cost of economic growth.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that the current account deficit was 86% lower at $276 million in November compared to $1.92 billion in the same month of last year. It was 59% lower when compared with the deficit of $569 million recorded in October 2022.

“Cumulatively, in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year 2023, it (current account deficit) contracted by more than half to $3.1 billion against $7.2 billion in Jul-Nov 2021, with imports falling by $4.8 billion (-16%) and exports broadly unchanged,” the central bank said on its official Twitter handle.

The significant drop in imports through administrative controls to manage the low foreign exchange reserves has, however, badly impacted economic activities.

Almost all industries are complaining about the persistent delay in import of raw material and said that their businesses are shutting down. This may trigger unemployment in the country, businessmen warned.

Pak-Kuwait Investment Company Head of Research Samiullah Tariq asked what were the other options under the current circumstances (low reserves), except for controlling imports.

The reserves have depleted to a four-year low of $6.7 billion, raising the spectre of default on international payments and foreign debt repayments.

PML-N’s former finance minister Miftah Ismail has been highly critical of his party’s current Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for his economic policies. Ismail said Dar’s policies were leading the country towards possible default.

Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Tahir Abbas said that the current account deficit declined to a 19-month low in November 2022.

“The primary reason was a 32% decline in imports in November compared to the same month of last year. However, exports and remittances decreased by 13% and 14% respectively.”

Tariq said that surprisingly the cumulative export earnings and workers’ remittances (at $4.35 billion) surpassed total imports ($4.26 billion) in November.

“This suggests the balance of payments has significantly improved in recent months, which is a must to mitigate the risk of default.”

Financial experts had projected a current account deficit of around $600-700 million for November, considering the trade deficit of $5.2 billion for the month.

There was almost a $1 billion gap between the trade deficit reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) at $5.2 billion for November compared to the gap of $4.3 billion reported by the SBP.

The reduction in payment settlement has paved the way for the significant drop in the current account deficit.

“PBS numbers are based on the Customs Department’s import and export data, while the central bank records import and export numbers when traders settle payments. So one would always find a difference between the PBS and SBP numbers,” he said.

He anticipated that the government may control the current account deficit at an average of $400 million a month in the remaining seven months of the current fiscal year. “Accordingly, the deficit may come to around $6-7 billion for FY23.”

Express Tribune
 
After the economic disaster they created the lifafas are reporting that the Junta/mafia are hoping to use the same disaster to delay the election.
 
Global ratings agency S&P Global cut Pakistan's long-term sovereign credit rating by one notch to "CCC+" from "B" to reflect a continued weakening of the country's external, fiscal and economic metrics.

Pakistan's already low foreign exchange reserves will remain under pressure through 2023 unless oil prices slump or foreign assistance improves, the agency said.

The country also faces elevated political risks which may affect its policy trajectory over the next year.

This year's severe floods, surging food and energy inflation as well as rising global interest rates are also expected to depress Pakistan's economic and fiscal outcomes, with refinancing challenges over the medium term, the report said.
 
Can't they ask Shareef or Bhuttos to chip in? Didn't Zardari take 10%?

Maybe his supporters can request some money back? How does it work there in Pakistan?
 
Pakistan received $5.1bn in July-November

Amid external account challenges, Pakistan borrowed about $5.115 billion in foreign loans in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year, almost 14pc higher than the foreign loans it received in the comparable period last year.

In its monthly report on Foreign Economic Assistance (FEA), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) said it received about $5.115bn foreign assistance in 5MFY23 compared to $4.499bn in the same period last year.

In November alone, Pakistan received $842 million from foreign inflows compared to $794m in the same month last year, a rise of 6pc.

As such, the total inflows at $5.115bn in 5MFY23 amounted to just 22.4pc of the budget estimates of $22.817bn for the entire year.

...
https://www.dawn.com/news/1727975
 
We have no reserves of our own. Let that sink in. Exports are nose diving, imports have blocked which has led some industries closing,tax collection has collapsed, Rp has collapsed at flour at 2500 in Karachi but Billo gets to go on holiday and Sethi is chairman.
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] I am waiting. Do you have the cajones to debate?
 
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