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Pakistan’s trade deficit has expanded by 2 percent in the first quarter (July – September) of the fiscal year 2020/2021, primarily driven by a notable increase in the import bill.
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ISLAMABAD: The headline inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 9.0 percent on year-on-year basis in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 8.2 percent in the previous month and 11.4 percent in September 2019, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Friday.
On month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.5 percent in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 0.6 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.8 percent in September 2019.
CPI inflation Urban, increased by 7.7 percent on year-on-year basis in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 7.1 percent in the previous month and 11.6 percent in September 2019. On month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.3 percent in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 0.8 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.7 percent in September 2019.
CPI inflation Rural, increased by 11.1 percent on year-on-year basis in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 9.9 percent in the previous month and 11.1 percent in September 2019. On month-on-month basis, it increased by 2.0 percent in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 0.4 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.8 percent in September 2019.
Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) inflation on YoY increased by 12.0 percent in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 11.7 percent a month earlier and an increase of 14.7 percent in September 2019. On MoM basis, it increased by 2.1 percent in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 0.9 percent a month earlier and an increase of 1.9 percent in September 2019.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation on YoY basis increased by 4.3 percent in September 2020 as compared to an increase of 3.3 percent a month earlier and an increase of 15.9 percent in September 2019. WPI inflation on MoM basis increased by 1.0 percent in September 2020 as compared to a decrease of 1.3 percent a month earlier and an increase of 0.1 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. September 2019.
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $369 million to $19.535 billion by week ended September 25, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.904 billion by week ended September 18, 2020.
The official reserves of the SBP have come down by $342 million to $12.36 billion by week ended September 25, 2020 as compared with $12.702 billion a week ago.
The central bank attributed the decline to the government external debt payments amounting to $311 million, and other official payments.
The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks fell by $27 million to $7.175 billion by week ended September 25, 2020 as compared with $7.202 billion a week ago.
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the retrenchment plan of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM). Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the ECC meeting at the Cabinet Division.
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted approval for a $300 million policy-based loan aimed at fortifying Pakistan’s finance sector.
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ISLAMABAD: The ‘enablers’ of corruption and bribery, such as accountants, lawyers and other intermediaries, must be closely regulated, monitored and held accountable, said Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday.
He was addressing through video link at the Launch of the Interim Report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI) for Achieving the 2030 Agenda High-Level Launch Event and Panel Discussion.
The prime minster said that each year, billions of dollars illicitly flow out of developing countries.
“My Government came with a robust public mandate to get rid of this menace from our country. We have taken several initiatives domestically. What is needed, what is required is strengthening international cooperation to bring perpetrators of financial crime to justice,” he said.
The prime minister welcomed the Interim Report of the FACTI Panel. The figures of illicit flows mentioned in the Report are staggering. One trillion dollars is taken out each year by these white-collar criminals, he said.
Twenty to forty billion dollars is in the form of bribes received by these corrupt white-collar criminals. Seven trillion dollars in stolen assets is parked in safe tax ‘haven’ destinations.
Five to six hundred billion dollars is lost each year in tax avoidance by multinational companies.
This bleeding of the poorer and developing countries must stop. International community must adopt decisive actions and these are ones I propose:
One, the stolen assets of developing countries, including the proceeds of corruption, bribery, and other crimes, must be returned immediately.
Two, the authorities in “haven” destinations must impose criminal and financial penalties on their financial institutions which receive and utilize such money and assets.
Three, the “enablers” of corruption and bribery, such as accountants, lawyers and other intermediaries, must be closely regulated, monitored and held accountable.
Four, the “beneficial ownership” of foreign companies must be revealed immediately upon inquiry by interested and affected governments.
Five, multinational corporations must not be allowed to resort to “profit-shifting” to low tax jurisdictions for avoiding taxation. A global minimum corporate tax could prevent this practice.
Six, revenues from digital transactions should be taxed where the revenues are generated, not elsewhere.
Seven, Unequal investment treaties should be discarded or revised and a fair system for adjudication of investment disputes set up.
Eight, all official and non-official bodies set up to control and monitor illicit financial flows must include all the interested countries.
Nine, the UN should set up a mechanism to coordinate and supervise the work of the various official and non-official bodies dealing with illicit financial flows to ensure coherence, consistency and equity in their work.
The need of developing countries to protect and preserve their precious resources has become even more vital because of the recession triggered by COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that unless these steps are taken, the difference between the rich and poor will keep growing. The developing countries will get impoverished and what we see of the current migration crisis, this will be dwarfed by what will happen in the future, if this gulf keeps growing.
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $55 million to $19.904 billion by week ended September 18, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.959 billion by week ended September 11, 2020.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank declined by $118 million to $12.702 billion by week ended September 18, 2020 as compared with $12.82 billion a week ago.
The SBP attributed to decline in reserves to external debt repayment of the country.
However, the reserves held by commercial banks increased by $63 to $7.202 billion by week ended September 18, 2020 as compared with $7.139 billion a week ago.
Pakistan’s current account balance has achieved a significant surplus of $805 million during the first two months of the current fiscal year, driven by higher remittance inflows and reduced import payments, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
(more…)KARACHI: Despite very difficult six months marked by COVID-19 outbreak in the country, a large portion of consumers remain optimistic that the economic condition of the country will improve in coming days.
Bilal Ijaz Gilani, Executive Director Gallup Pakistan said on Tuesday while launching of a survey report.
“Pakistanis are generally optimistic people and the current CCI report reflects the same. Despite the very difficult 6 months marked by the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, a large proportion of consumers remain optimistic that the economic conditions of the country will improve in the coming days,” he said.
Dun & Bradstreet Pakistan and Gallup Pakistan have launched their inaugural report titled ‘Pakistan Consumer Confidence Index (CCI)’.
The CCI report has been developed by assessing Consumers’ Confidence about the economy as well as their personal financial situation.
The Index encompasses covers four key parameters i.e., Household Financial Situation, Country’s Economic Condition, Unemployment, and Household Savings.
The Index is a reflection of ‘Current Sentiments’ (economic changes felt in the last six months), as well as ‘Future Expectations’ (changes expected for next 6 months) of consumers across the country.
Nauman Lakhani, Country Manager of Dun & Bradstreet Pakistan stated, “We envisage this report to be informative and useful for Policy Makers, Development Financial Institutions, Small & Medium Enterprises, Large Private Sector Companies as well as Regulators and Research & Educational Institutions in Pakistan. It would be especially relevant for Industries directly or indirectly serving consumers and help them understand the pulse of the market.
“Government departments keen to understand the sentiments of citizens across the country (especially in the COVID impacted situation), should find it especially interesting and insightful.”
Bilal Ijaz Gilani, Executive Director Gallup Pakistan said that the recent economic indicators including figures on exports, remittances, and inflation point to short term economic stability with a 4-5 percent rise in GDP growth rate in the next 2 years.
However, if there is anything that the global COVID-19 pandemic has taught us is that projections are mere projections and, in an interconnected world, there are hardly any constants! Reports like the Dun & Bradstreet and Gallup Pakistan CCI provide an early warning barometer in these turbulent times and can help decision makers navigate the rather unstable business environment in the country.”
The first survey was conducted face to face with 2,041 respondents during Feb and early March 2020 (referred to as ‘Feb Survey’ before the COVID-19 pandemic fully impacted Pakistan.
The second survey was conducted telephonically with 1,500 respondents during Jul-Aug 2020, this is referred to as ‘Aug Survey’.
The Consumer Confidence Index ranges from 0 to 200, with 100 as the neutral value. A score of less than 100 indicates pessimism.
The Consumer Confidence Index was 79.1 points in Aug Survey, compared to 79.0 points in Feb Survey. Thus, the overall consumer confidence in Pakistan has remained pessimistic in both the surveys, and was pessimistic even during pre-COVID times.
Sentiments about the current situation are more negative in Aug Survey due to the impact of COVID-19. This is indicated by a decline of current CCI by 12 percent to 60.7 in Aug Survey, compared to a score of 69.1 in Feb Survey.
Unemployment situation in the country seems to be the most impacted as a result of COVID-19. 4 out of 5 consumers feel that unemployment has increased/ increased a lot compared in the last 6 months (pre-COVID situation).
Consequently, 51 percent of the respondents expressed concern that their Household Financial Situation had worsened in the last 6 months.
On the back of deteriorating employment opportunities, and household financial situation, increasing prices of daily essentials is a key concern. 2 out of 3 consumers surveyed felt that prices of daily essentials have increased significantly in the last 6 months.
Current CCI declined by 7 percent and 14 percent in Balochistan and Punjab respectively, while KPK witnessed the worst decline in consumer sentiments by 33 percent. In Sindh, consumer confidence Index was 60, indicating high pessimism.
However, this was an improvement by around 10 percent from Feb Survey indicating that pessimism was very high in Sindh even during pre-COVID times, and the situation is marginally better now.
Due to early signs of economic rebound seen in Pakistan during Jul-Aug 2020, respondents are less pessimistic about the future in all the 4 major provinces in which the survey was conducted. Future expectations of the consumers (Future CCI) improved by 9.5 percent to 97.5. This improvement can be largely attributed to consumer optimism relating to their household financial situation and savings in the next 6 months compared to the current situation.
However, future CCI is still marginally in the pessimistic range as 55 percent respondents feel that there will be fewer jobs in the next 6 months and 3 out of 5 consumers opined that the country’s economic situation will remain the same or further worsen.
On the whole, while the current situation has dampened the spirits, consumers all across Pakistan relatively more optimistic and upbeat for the economic situation to improve, than they were six months earlier.
Bilal I. Gilani, Executive Director of Gallup Pakistan added that “Across demographics, current sentiments are low as was expected due to the impact of the COVID-19 situation. However, with the rapid decline in cases since mid of June, consumers are less pessimistic about the short-term outlook for the next 6 months. In particular, we noticed that optimism is high amongst females and urban respondents.”
KARACHI: Textile exports have fallen by one percent to $2.28 billion during first two months of current fiscal year as compared with $2.3 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Major component of textile exports have witnessed growth during the period.
The export of knitwear grew by 4.43 percent to $564.29 million during July – August 2020 of the current fiscal year as compared with $540 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The export of bed wear increased by 6 percent to $424.18 million during first two months of the current fiscal year as compared with $400.44 million in the same month of the last year.
The export of readymade garments grew by 2 percent to $477 million during July – August 2020 as compared with $467 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.