Karachi, October 25, 2021: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued the official exchange rates for Monday, October 25, 2021.
(more…)Author: Faisal Shahnawaz
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History of Prize Bonds in Pakistan
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has made Rs5 denomination prize bond as part of its museum.
Prize Bond, as the name suggests, are Bonds issued by a Government, which do not promise any interest, but award a prize, determined by a draw held at fixed date or regular intervals. Prize Bonds are investment and are bearer type of security available in different denominations.
The First Prize Bonds in the sub-continent were issued on sale in denominations of Rs. 10 and Rs. 100, by the undivided Indian Government on 15th January, 1944 and could be cashed on any date after 15th January, 1949. These were called “Five Year interest-free Bonds 1949”.
After the partition of sub-continent, Pakistan first issued the interest-free “National Prize Bonds” of Rs. 10 in October 1960, managed by the ‘Central Directorate of National Savings’ (CDNS). The Prize Bonds were launched by the then Minister, Gen. K.M. Shaikh, and the first Bond was also purchased by him. Later Rs. 5, 11, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000 & 25000 denomination Prize Bonds were issued.
The draw of each Prize Bond was held every three months, with the first draw held in January 1961. The traditional drum was used initially for the draw, but imported machines similar to slot machines were later used. The draws were supervised by draw committees, with the chairman being a senior Government officer, and members from the State Bank of Pakistan and Central Directoarte of National Savings (CDNS).
Rs. 200, 750, 1500, 7500, 15000, 25000 & 40000 denomination Bonds are currently in circulation.
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Pakistan pavilion to be set at China expo
BEIJING: An online pavilion of Pakistan will be established at 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE), which will be held offline and online in Shanghai from November 5 to 10 this year.
Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque will lead the Pakistani delegation at the opening ceremony of the Expo.
A number of Pakistani exhibitors, who are already in China, have geared up their preparations to participate in the upcoming expo.
They will set up stalls to showcase popular household gadgets from Pakistan to the Chinese market, Pakistan Counsel General, Shanghai, Hussain Haider told state new agency.
This year, the traders and businessmen from Pakistan are not coming to China owing to travelling restrictions and quarantine in wake of Covid-19 pandemic, he added.
A few Pakistani enterprises specialized in jewellery design, furniture and artistic handicrafts will attend this year’s expo. Among all the exhibits, stunning gems and jewellery from Pakistan is likely to become a big hit with the Chinese buyers.
More than 200 exhibitors and over 500 purchasers will be participating in the expo this year. As the first dedicated import exhibition globally, the CIIE has yielded fruitful outcomes from the past three expos.
Shu Jueting, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce, said the exhibition area exceeded 360,000 square meters, and the number of signed exhibitors exceeded that of the previous year, adding that over 80 percent of the Fortune 500 and industry-leading companies from last year’s CIIE will participate again in this year’s event.
According to the customs, more than 200 batches of exhibits are expected to enter the country by sea, air and rail in the coming month.
Gu Honghui, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, said efforts will be made to ensure the COVID-19 prevention and control is more precise, urban service more refined, and the spillover effect of the CIIE brand more prominent during the expo.
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Weekly Review: stock market likely to remain positive
KARACHI: The stock market is likely to stay positive during the next week as the IMF and Pakistan expected to reach an agreement.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain positive in the upcoming week. With IMF and Pakistan expected to reach agreement soon, the investor sentiment is anticipated to remain buoyant.
Moreover, with the ongoing result season, certain sectors and scrips are expected to stay under limelight.
Keeping in view concerns over inflation and devaluation of Pak Rupee against greenback, investors are expected to have a cautious approach.
The KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 5.2x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 14.7x while offering a dividend yield of ~8.1 per cent versus ~2.2 per cent offered by the region.
The market commenced on a negative note this week given the uncertainty over outcome of Pakistan-IMF talks tagged with surge in petroleum prices raising concerns over inflation.
The market sentiment changed after Advisor to the PM informed that talks with IMF were moving in the positive direction, with staff-level agreement expected to be reached soon.
Alongside this, the current account deficit for September 2021 narrowed by 24.5 per cent MoM to USD 1.1 billion, fueling the positive momentum.
On the flip, continuous drop in PKR/USD parity to PKR 174 (all time high exchange rate), reduction in SBP reserves by 8 per cent WoW to USD 17.5 billion and FATF retaining Pakistan on grey-list in its plenary meeting, kept the index in check.
Albeit, the market closed at 45,578 points, gaining 757 points (up by 1.7 per cent) WoW.
Sector-wise positive contributions came from i) Commercial Banks (463 points), ii) Cement (184 points), iii) Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (137 points), iv) Fertilizer (107 points), and v) Insurance (42 points).
Whereas, sectors which contributed negatively were i) Technology & Communication (155 points), and ii) Food & Personal Care Products (31 points).
Scrip-wise positive contributors were HBL (187 points), UBL (150 points), ENGRO (99 points), LUCK (72 points) and MCB (64 points).
Meanwhile, scrip-wise negative contribution came from TRG (113 points), PSO (27 points) and SYS (26 points).
Foreign selling continued this week, clocking-in at USD 7.3 million compared to a net sell of USD 13.3 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Fertilizer (USD 4.5 million) and Commercial Banks (USD 3.8 million). On the local front, buying was reported by Insurance Companies (USD 4.6 million) followed by Other Organizations (USD 2.5 million).
Average volumes clocked-in at 299 million shares (down by 13 per cent WoW) while average value traded settled at USD 64 million (down by 10 per cent WoW).
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FBR suspends credit notes against unregistered supplies
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has stirred controversy with its recent decision to suspend credit notes against supplies made to unregistered persons, a move that has drawn strong protests from the Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA).
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Stocks end down by 243 points on political unrest
KARACHI: The stocks fell by 243 points on Friday owing to protests by political parties against mounting inflation.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 45,578 points as compared with the previous close of 45,821 points.
Analysts at Topline Securities said that the KSE 100 index opened on a positive note and gain to make an intraday high of 217 points, however it failed to sustain its momentum on account of protest by right wing religious party and opposition party alliance (Pakistan Democratic Movement) across Pakistan.
A major contributions to the index came from HBL, UBL, AICL, CHCC and THALL, as they cumulatively contributed 104 points to the index. On the flip side TRG, ENGRO, PPL, PSO, and OGDC, as cumulatively contributed 167 points to the index.
Traded volume and value for the day stood at 301 million shares and Rs11.8 billion. HUMNL was today`s volume leader with 36 million shares.
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KIBOR rates on October 22, 2021
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday issued the following Karachi Interbank Offered Rates (KIBOR) on October 22, 2021.
Tenor BID OFFER 1 – Week 7.21 7.71 2 – Week 7.25 7.75 1 – Month 7.31 7.81 3 – Month 8.08 8.33 6 – Month 8.49 8.74 9 – Month 8.73 9.23 1 – Year 8.96 9.46 -
FTO’s prompt action helps release of stuck up tractors
The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has taken swift action in response to a complaint against customs authorities, addressing unnecessary delays in the clearance of a consignment. The complainant, a regular importer of Agricultural Tractors, reported that the customs authorities had unjustifiably halted the clearance of a shipment of tractors destined for use by farmers in the country.
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Dollar goes up to new closing high at Rs174
KARACHI: The US dollar continued its upward trajectory in the interbank foreign exchange market on Friday, closing at Rs174. This marks a slight depreciation of the Pakistani rupee, which lost four paisas compared to the previous day’s closing rate of Rs173.96.
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SBP issues customers exchange rates for October 22
Karachi, October 22, 2021: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has released the official exchange rates for Friday, October 22, 2021.
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