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KARACHI: Sindh government has fixed minimum wage for unskilled laborers at Rs17,500, a statement said on Wednesday.
According to the notification issued by Zahid Hussain Khemtio, Chairman, Minimum Wages Board, the Sindh government has fixed minimum wages of Rs. 17,500 per month for unskilled workers and under the Sindh Minimum Wages Act 2015, all industrial and commercial establishments across the province are bound to pay the fixed wages.
Chairman Sindh Minimum Wages Board Zahid Hussain Khemtio said in a statement that if anyone has a complaint in this regard, one should call these numbers and can lodge one’s complaint on 021-99211344 and 03003013110 and action will be taken against the institution which does not comply with the Act on receipt of the complaint. He further said that the said law is effective from July 1, 2019.
ISLAMABAD: Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has conducted a raid on the office of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) and impounded relevant records. The raid was conducted on possible anti-competitive activities, a statement said on Thursday.
The CCP said that exercising its powers under Section 34 of the Competition Act 2010, as part of an enquiry launched in May 2020 to investigate the possible anti-competitive activities by the cement manufacturers, carried out a search and inspection of the offices of Chairman and Vice Chairman of APCMA located in Karachi on Thursday.
Two different teams entered and searched the offices of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of APCMA located in Karachi and impounded the relevant record.
The enquiry in cement sector was started based on the information gathered through various media reports, and concerns and complaints expressed regarding a concurrent increase in cement prices, particularly during the month of April 2020.
The reports indicated that an increase ranging between Rs. 45 – Rs55 per cement bag was apparently collectively decided in a meeting of the cement manufacturers held under the umbrella of APCMA.
On September 24, 2020, the CCP had conducted search and inspection of the APCMA main office and the office of Senior Vice Chairman of the APCMA’s Executive Committee; a senior employee of a major cement company in Lahore.
Moreover, the impounded record, including Whatsapp messages and emails, warranted conducting search and inspection in the South Zone as well for obtaining evidence relating to anticompetitive practices.
The evidence suggests possibility of a cartel/collusive arrangement between the cement manufacturers.
It is pertinent to mention that various factors among others lower demand of cement in the first two quarters of 2020, and almost parallel increase in cement prices and data collected from Pakistan Bureau Statistics and the cement companies, became the basis of CCP’s enquiry and the earlier search.
Sudden rise in price by the cement manufacturers at a time when there is low demand compared to the installed capacity of the manufactures and considering that input fuel cost (coal and oil), transportation and interest rate have declined raises suspicion of a collective rise in price by cement companies.
It is pertinent to mention here that the cement sector has a history of collusive activities and they have been penalized in the past to an amount of collectively more than Rs. 6.3 billion on account of forming a cartel and involvement in the prohibited agreements in violation of Section 04 of the Act.
In 2012 the Commission again initiated enquiry against cement companies, however the same could not be proceeded and concluded due to stay order granted to cement companies by the Lahore High Court. The current enquiry was initiated in 2020.
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country have crossed over $20 billion by week ended November 13, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $178 million to $20.085 billion by week ended November 13, 2020 as compared with $19.907 billion a week ago.
The foreign exchange reserves of the central bank increased by $190 million to $12.931 billion by week ended November 20, 2020 as compared with $12.741 billion a week ago.
The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks fell by $12 million to $7.154 billion by week ended November 13, 2020 as against $7.166 billion a week ago.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Thursday that the country has achieved a current account surplus of $1.16 billion during the first four months (July – October) of the fiscal year 2020/2021. This marks a significant turnaround from the same period last year, when Pakistan recorded a current account deficit of $1.42 billion.
ISLAMABAD: The exports of textile products have increased by 3.78 percent to $4.76 billion during first four months (July – October) of 2020/2021, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday.
The exports of textile products were $4.58 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The textile exports were able to post positive growth due to better performance in knitwear, bedwear, towels and readymade garments.
The export of knitwear registered 12.3 percent growth to $1.18 billion during the first four months of current fiscal year as compared with $1.05 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The export of bedwear posted a 10 percent increase to $899 million during July – October of the current fiscal year as compared with $818 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The export of towels increased by 12.35 percent to $283 million during the period under review as compared with $252 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The export of readymade garments registered an increase of 4.66 percent to $947 million during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared with $905 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The export of raw cotton and cotton this year posted negative growth of 95.72 percent and 40.56 percent, respectively during the two periods under review.
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has projected GDP growth between 1.5-2.5 percent for the current fiscal year 2020/2021 with up to 9 percent average inflation for the year.
The SBP on Wednesday issued annual report on state of economy for the year 2019/2020.
The government has set GDP growth target at 2.1 percent for the current fiscal year as against a negative growth of 0.4 percent in the last fiscal year.
The central bank projected fiscal deficit between 6.5-7.5 percent of the GDP for the current fiscal year lower than 8.4 percent in the last fiscal year. Similarly, current account deficit has been estimated between 1.0-2.0 percent for the ongoing fiscal year.
The inflows of remittances are expected at $22-23 billion during the current fiscal year.
The SBP said that as things stand, Pakistan has managed to control the virus spread. Although fresh infections have posted a slight increase in recent weeks, the overall level of active cases remains significantly lower than the peak observed in June 2020.
While the prevalent risk of another spike calls for a continuation of social distancing norms, the reopening of the economy (including services) has helped reduce some of the uncertainty around the overall macroeconomic outlook.
However, the global containment of the virus still remains elusive. Active cases in the US, the UK, India, France, and Italy remain high. Advanced European economies are bracing for another wave, with rising number of cases witnessed in the UK, Belgium, Italy and Greece. Social distancing norms and localized mobility restrictions are being re-introduced in many countries, whereas recent mobility data also suggests plateauing recovery across many countries.
As a result, while a rebound in growth is expected in nearly all the regions in 2021, downside risks remain high. For now, with the ease in containment measures, retail sales have recovered in the US and the major EU economies, though this recovery was mainly concentrated in groceries, healthcare supplies, and consumer electronics.
Clothing retail sales have yet to recover, as they continued to decline in double digits between June and August in the US and EU. The overall global economic outlook also remains uncertain due to the still-high infection rate in some countries, expiration of temporary unemployment support measures in the US, and continuation of the US trade dispute with China.
These uncertainties continue to present downside risks to Pakistan’s exports growth. Preliminary customs’ records for the first quarter of FY21 show a decline of 0.7 percent YoY in the country’s exports, although a 7.0 percent increase was recorded in the month of September. For the full year, SBP expects export values within the range of US$ 23.4 – 23.8 billion in FY21 – higher than the US$ 22.5 billion recorded in FY20.
Similarly, the SBP expects full-year imports to remain higher than last year, given the anticipated pickup in economic activity following the lifting of lockdowns, and firms’ efforts to replenish inventories. In particular, the concessions for the construction industry and progress on housing finance would revive steel imports. In addition, lower domestic production and supply-management issues have necessitated imports of wheat and sugar.
Energy imports, however, would depend on the ongoing substitution trend between imported and local fuel sources. As for oil prices, though having more than doubled from 19-year lows (US$ 19/bbl) in April 2020, Brent still hovered around US$ 40 per barrel by end-October.
Through the end of CY-2021, the crude oil market is projected to remain range-bound – due to weaknesses in the aviation sector and the risk of re-imposition of lockdowns amid a still high number of active Covid cases.
Given this stability in oil prices, domestic fuel prices are likely to remain steady during FY21. However, as previous adjustments in the power and gas tariffs are due, there is an upside risk to overall energy inflation.
Conditions in the domestic food market are also subject to risk. The recent resurgence in wheat and sugar prices continues to highlight commodity-management problems in the country. Moreover, food prices may also come under pressure due to widespread torrential rains and increased risks of flooding, which may cause crop losses. In contrast, the non-food-non-energy segment of CPI is expected to ease further, as chances of a significant pick-up in domestic demand remain low due to weak financial position of businesses and households.
Overall, the SBP expects headline inflation to fall within the range of 7-9 percent in FY21. On the fiscal side, challenges remain, as the government continues to focus on addressing Covid-related economic and social outcomes and supporting the initial economic recovery.
For the full-year, the government has set the target for the fiscal deficit at 7 percent of GDP, with the primary balance also estimated to show a deficit of 0.5 percent.
Thus, with a tight fiscal position, a significant contraction in grants (social transfers) and subsidy outlay – the two major areas with large slippages in FY20 – is targeted for FY21.
In case of any overshooting under these heads, the debt servicing relief of US$ 2.7 billion (equivalent to 1 percent of GDP) provided to Pakistan under the G-20’s Debt Servicing Suspension Initiative will help create expenditure space for Covidrelated spending.
In terms of growth, the government has set the GDP growth target at 2.1 percent for FY21. This year-on-year improvement is expected to come from a steady performance of agriculture and a recovery in the services sector, especially finance & insurance, and transport & communications. Industrial performance is also estimated to post a modest recovery, primarily on account of a much contained contraction in large-scale manufacturing as compared to FY20.
The SBP expects GDP growth to stay within the range of 1.5 – 2.5 percent during FY21. Nonetheless, these growth projections are subject to risks, including from the evolution of Covid, extreme weather conditions, external demand, and progress on the reform front. In particular, earlier estimates for kharif crops (especially cotton) do not seem promising, given weaknesses in farmers’ financial condition and heavy rains causing losses to standing crops.
There are also some upside risks, especially in the context of a resurgence in business confidence in the country following the ease in lockdowns and falling Covid cases.
The August wave of the IBA-SBP confidence surveys suggests that the business confidence index not only posted a sharp surge compared to the previous two waves, but it has also come in positive territory after remaining in the negative zone for three consecutive waves.
The improvement in the expected business confidence index (a subcomponent of the overall business confidence index) was more pronounced, as it touched its second-highest level since the start of this survey. Importantly, this optimism has also begun to reflect in planned investment activity in the country. Funding requests under the SBP’s Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF) have risen sharply in recent weeks.
The scheme, which provides subsidized financing to businesses undertaking capex or BMR, has so far attracted 338 projects. These developments, along with optimism in the housing and construction sectors, could help accelerate the economy’s recovery process in FY21.
Given the fact that the TERF is geared towards supporting investment activities in the country, the uptick in its utilization is encouraging from a structural viewpoint as well.
Pakistan has historically been a consumption-oriented economy, which resulted in unsustainable growth spurts and investment rates not only remaining lower than most EMDEs, but also declining in absolute terms over the past few decades. In this regard, a strong response to incentive schemes such as TERF bodes well for the future economic trajectory, as capital formation activities would help enhance and potentially diversify the output capacity of Pakistan going forward.
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday constituted a committee to examine a proposal for manufacturing of SIM/Smart-cards in the country.
The meeting of the cabinet committee was chaired by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh while among others it was attended by Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, SAPM on Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood, SAPM on Petroleum Nadeem Baber and Advisor to the PM for Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr. Ishrat Hussain attended the meeting. Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Reza Baqir also participated through video link.
In light of a summary presented by the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication regarding manufacturing of SIMs/Smart-cards in Pakistan, after due deliberation, the chair directed to constitute a Committee to examine the proposal and present a report for a way forward within two weeks.
The Committee would be chaired by the Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar and would include representatives from the Ministry of IT & Telecom., FBR and Board of Investment (BOI).
The ECC constituted a committee to decide a timeline for export of mango and kinnow after due consultation with the stakeholders.
The committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R), according to press statement issued by the Finance Ministry here.
The ECC approved budgetary allocation in favour of NITB for provision of ICT services at the Prime Minister’s Office for Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme for FY/2020-21 to the tune of Rs53 million as requested by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.
The ECC gave concurrence to the proposal by the Petroleum Division, in principal, regarding allocation of gas from Bashar X-IST to third party up to 1.0 MMCFD.
A summary was presented by the PIACL, Aviation Division before ECC regarding GOP cash support for the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). After thorough discussion, it was decided to approve, in principle, the voluntary separation from service scheme for PIA.
The ECC also approved four separate Technical Supplementary Grants for the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior for various projects during current FY 2020-21.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a 9.1% increase in net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first four months of the current fiscal year (July – October). The net FDI inflows amounted to $733 million, up from $672 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year, signaling a moderate improvement in investor confidence in Pakistan’s economy.
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $553 million to $19.907 billion by week ended November 06, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.354 billion by the week ended October 29, 2020.
The official reserves of the SBP increased by $558 million for the week ended November 06, 2020 as against $12.183 billion a week ago.
The SBP attributed the increase to receipt of $500 million as government loan proceeds.
The foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks eased to $7.166 billion by week ended November 06, 2020 as compared with $7.171 billion a week ago.
KARACHI: The inflow of workers’ remittances has sharply increased by 26.5 percent to $9.43 billion during first four months (July – October) of current fiscal year 2020/2021, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The central bank received $7.45 billion in the same months of the last fiscal year.
The SBP said that remittances remained above $2 billion for the fifth consecutive month in October 2020.
Workers’ remittances amounted to $ 2.3 billion during October 2020, increasing by 14.1 percent compared to October 2019.
A large part of y/y increase in October 2020 was sourced from Saudi Arabia (30 percent), United States (16 percent) and United Kingdom (14.6 percent).
Improvements in Pakistan’s FX market structure and its dynamics, efforts under the Pakistan Remittances Initiative (PRI) to formalize the flows contributed to the growth in remittances and limited cross-border travelling, the SBP said.
