KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday issued the Karachi Interbank Offered Rates (KIBOR) as of December 16, 2021.
Following are the latest KIBOR rates:
| Tenor | BID | OFFER |
| 1 – Week | 9.85 | 10.35 |
| 2 – Week | 9.89 | 10.39 |
| 1 – Month | 10.00 | 10.50 |
| 3 – Month | 10.56 | 10.81 |
| 6 – Month | 11.28 | 11.53 |
| 9 – Month | 11.27 | 11.77 |
| 1 – Year | 11.31 | 11.81 |
KARACHI: Site Association of Industries (SAI) has demanded the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to immediately withdraw the increase in policy rate and bring it back at 7 per cent.
In a statement issued on Thursday, SAI President Abdul Rasheed rejected further 100 basis points rise in interest rates calling for its immediate reversal especially when the industry is facing forced closures due to a severe gas shortage.
READ MORE: Key policy rate goes up to 9.75%; SBP raises 250bps in less than month
In a statement, SAI president said that free floating exchange rate works as a shock absorber which discourages imports in a timely manner thereby keeping current account in check.
SBP in their monetary policy statement have stated that inflation is due to supply side issues further fuelled by higher commodity prices and up to 70 per cent of current account deficit is due to rising global commodity prices.
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Abdul Rasheed demanded reversing the rate to 7 per cent as industries are already facing severe losses due to gas closure industry, a crisis of the magnitude of COVID 19. “With industries facing huge challenges due to closure of gas, one sided minimum wage notification, an interest rate hike could well prove to be the last nail in the coffin for troubled industrialists.”
Terming the interest rate hike detrimental for Pakistan’s economy especially for Government of Pakistan, he said, “An increase in interest rate of 275 basis points since September would result in higher fiscal deficit by increasing interest expense by Rs1 trillion on Rs26 trillion domestic debt while reducing direct taxes due to lower profitability of companies on account of higher interest expense”, he concluding that keeping raising interest rate at 7 per cent was the main reason that GOP avoided twin deficits having a better performance on the fiscal front despite deteriorating external position.
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SAI president discarded the idea of keeping real interest rates mildly positive as most of the countries are maintaining steep negative real interest rates including USA and UK. Terming the reversal of policy rate down to 7 per cent critical for both the private sector and GOP, Abdul Rashid Said, “it is imperative that SBP reverts its decision of raising the policy rates as it is detrimental to both the private sector as well the GOP without aiding at all in improving the current account position.”
KARACHI: The US dollar on Thursday maintained the record high level of Rs177.98 at closing of interbank foreign exchange market.
The Pak Rupee ended unchanged against the dollar at previous day’s closing of Rs177.98, which was the lowest level of the rupee.
READ MORE: Rupee falls to new record low despite policy rate hike
Currency experts said that the market witnessed high dollar demand for import and corporate payments. However, sufficient inflows of the dollar helped the rupee to keep value at previous day’s level.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on December 14, 2021 announced another 100 basis points increase in the key policy rate to 9.75 per cent. It was the third straight increase in the policy rate by the central bank since September 2021. However, the free-fall in rupee continued due to higher dollar demand for import payments.
READ MORE: Dollar eases against PKR on expected policy rate rise
According to the official data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the import bill of the country surged by 69.17 per cent to $33 billion during the first five months (July – November) 2021/2022 as compared with $19.47 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
Karachi, Pakistan – On Thursday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) released the official exchange rates for December 16, 2021, offering valuable insights for customers engaged in international transactions.
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ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday decided to reduce the prices of petroleum products for next fortnight considering the fall in international oil prices.
The government has not passed on the all the benefit of fall in international oil prices as it enhanced sales tax rates. However, the government kept the petroleum levy unchanged. The prices are applicable from December 16, 2021.
Price on petrol cut by Rs 5 to Rs 140.82/ltr
Price on diesel cut by Rs 5 to Rs 137.62/ltr
Petroleum levy on petrol and diesel remained unchanged at Rs 13.62 and Rs 13.14.
Sales tax on petrol raised from 1.63 per cent to 4.77 per cent. Ssles tax on diesel raises from 7.37 per cent to 9.08 per cent
KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday gained 1,120 points as institutional buying was seen across the board.
The index closed at 44,367 points as against the previous day’s closing of 43,247 points, showing an increase of 1,120.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that KSE-100 index stayed in the bullish momentum throughout the day as the market celebrated interest rate not entering into double digits and SBP’s forward guidance that the interest rate would remain broadly unchanged in the near term.
Market opened with a positive note as traders took aggressive bets on cement, steel and technology stocks.
On the institutional front, buying activity was witnessed across the board from the mutual funds. Moving forward, the upcoming auction of treasury bills will play a vital role to set the direction of the market.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+263 points), Technology & Communication (+196 points), E&P (+110 points), OMC’S (+74 points) and Chemical (+62 points).
Volumes increased from 212.4 million shares to 398.1 million shares (+87.5 per cent DoD). Traded value also increased by 72.1 per cent to reach $65.5 million as against $38.0 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, BYCO, HASCOL, HUMNL and FFL.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday directed the officers of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) in BS-18 to submit their declaration of assets for consideration in promotion to BS-19.
The FBR in an official memo asked the PCS officers in BS-16 to complete their Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Declaration of Assets. The scrutiny of personal record reveals that the majority of the officers have not yet submitted their PERs and Declaration of Assets for the period ending on June 30, 2021, the FBR added.
The meeting of the Departmental Selection Board (DSB) for promotion of PCS from BS-18 to BS-19 is being planned by January 15, .2022 where cases of officer of PCS shall be considered for promotion by the Departmental Selection Board.
All BS-18 officers of PCS in the promotion zone should submit PERs and Declaration of Assets up to 30.06.2021 to the Board latest by December 31, 2021 positively.
Completion of PERs and submission of Declaration of Assets are the prerequisites for promotion to selection grades under Civil Servants Promotion (BS-18 to BS-21) Rules, 2019.
The Board is trying hard to ensure that all eligible officers are considered for promotion in the forthcoming DSB meeting. However, your cooperation in timely completion of service record is equally essential.
The FBR said that any officer who fails to furnish the above documents by the due date of December 31, 2021. will himself/herself be responsible for non-consideration/deferment/supersession.
The Reporting/Countersigning Officers are also advised to immediately forward the PERs of the aforesaid officers to the Board (ERM Section) without any delay.
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee recorded a new low of Rs177.98 to the dollar on Wednesday despite the hike in key policy rate by 100 basis points announced a day earlier.
(more…)KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday issued the Karachi Interbank Offered Rates (KIBOR) as of December 15, 2021.
(more…)Karachi, Pakistan – On Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) unveiled the official exchange rates for December 15, 2021, providing customers with crucial information based on the weighted average rates of commercial banks.
(more…)