ISLAMABAD: Shaukat Tarin, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, has directed the authorities to take measures to reduce the import of luxury items.
He was presiding over a meeting to review the balance of trade at Finance Division on Thursday.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce & Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Federal Secretaries, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
The meeting reviewed and discussed the import bill for the last five months- July to Nov 2021.
It was informed that the pressure on import bill was mainly due to global high commodity prices especially energy, steel, and industrial raw materials.
The forum also noted that high import of vaccine contributed significantly to the rise in import bill.
Moreover, it was informed that there will be less import of food items, furnace oil and vaccine in the coming months that will significantly reduce the pressure on trade bill in the second half of the current fiscal year.
At the conclusion, the Adviser to the PM on Finance and Revenue advised the concerned authorities to take effective policy measures to reduce unnecessary imports of luxury items.
Karachi, Pakistan – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has published the exchange rates for December 01, 2021, providing a comprehensive overview based on the weighted average rates of commercial banks.
Samba Bank Limited shared a communication with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that the SBP had granted approval to SNB and its advisor, due diligence team, to undertake the due diligence of Samba Bank Limited with applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Samba Bank previously on September 21, 2021 communicated to the PSX that SNB, as the immediate parent company of Samba Bank Limited had notified: “SNB is considering all its strategic options in relations to its shareholding in Samba Pakistan Limited, including potential mergers, acquisitions, divestment and/or restructuring (the strategic review).
“Any decision relating to the strategic review shall be subject to internal approvals and may be subject to regulatory approvals as well as execution of the definitive agreement.”
It may be mentioned that SNB is the successor entity of Samba Financial Group, pursuant to a merger process in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and regulatory formalities for the formal recording of Saudi National Bank as the successor entity in Pakistan is under process.
Samba Bank through a letter on October 05, 2021 made further disclosure to the stock exchange that the board of directors of SNB had approved the following actions in respect of Samba Bank Limited:
— To commence and orderly well managed divestment of Samba Bank Limited – Pakistan.
— To appoint an advisor to assist with the process, which has been done by SNB;
— to advise Samba Bank Limited on engagement with the regulators in Pakistan for the process, as necessary;
— To revert to the Board of Directors of SNB, before commencing a process of due diligence based on the receipt of Non-Binding offers and feedback from the market in the evaluation of this option.
KARACHI, November 30, 2021 – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has released the official exchange rates for November 30, 2021, providing customers and businesses with crucial information on currency values.
The SBP said that over the past few weeks, certain sections of the media including op-eds have expressed concerns over the actions of the SBP, particularly with regard to monetary policy decisions and the role of the Covid-related monetary accommodation in fueling the currently elevated inflation outturns.
The SBP would like to address these concerns and offer some clarifications.
First, while referencing the status quo monetary policy decisions in the earlier half of 2021, certain op-ed have implied that the central bank had absolved itself of its responsibility to combat inflation when it was rising.
Such points are all easier made in hindsight but let us remind ourselves what the situation was actually like back in May and July 2021. Demand-side pressures appeared contained with spare capacity in the economy, price pressures were concentrated in a few items, wage growth was subdued and inflation expectations were reasonably anchored.
Moreover, any inflationary concerns were dwarfed by the fact that Pakistan was going through the 3rd and subsequently the more virulent and uncertain 4th Delta-variant wave of Covid-19. There were a few occasions when micro lockdowns were imposed, while the vaccine rollout was not as extensive as it is currently.
Globally as well, Covid cases were spiraling upwards, driven primarily by the Delta variant. At such a time of elevated uncertainty about the future trajectory of the pandemic, the Monetary Policy Committee adopted a prudent policy stance by keeping interest rates unchanged, so as to not preemptively disrupt economic activity.
It is quite easy, in hindsight, to criticize this decision even though no tangible alternatives were proposed in the op-eds or elsewhere at the time.
By contrast, policymaking involves taking calculated decisions in real-time, when the future is uncertain and considerations need to be carefully balanced. This is especially so in the face of a shock like Covid, for which policymakers have no rulebook.
Second, in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic, it would be imprudent to solely superimpose classical economic theories onto data outturns.
Policymakers, economists and businesses around the world did not know how the global or domestic economy would evolve in response to mobility restrictions of varying stringencies in different locations.
Similarly, there was, and in fact continues to be, heightened uncertainty regarding price-setting behavior. For instance, there is an on-going debate in global policy circles and financial markets over whether the ongoing bout of inflation is transitory in nature or not. In the face of an unprecedented shock like Covid, invoking supposed historical, text-book patterns of overheating, as in the op-ed, is facile.
Under such circumstances, as policymakers around the world acknowledged, the costs of normalizing policies too soon outweigh those of waiting for more clarity on the path of inflation and output.
As that uncertainty has recently waned in Pakistan, monetary policy is being appropriately normalized.
Third, some commentary has seemingly attributed the currently higher inflation to the growth in broad money supply.
In this regard, the SBP would like to point out that at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and for the subsequent few months, real broad money balances were in fact below the pre-Covid trend. If allowed to continue, a liquidity crisis would have turned into a solvency one, multiplying the contractionary impact of Covid-19 on real GDP growth.
To stave off this stark outcome, and to extend the needed support to businesses and households, the SBP and the government introduced unprecedented stimulative policy measures.
As a consequence, real money balances recovered as intended. Not providing this support would have risked worsening and prolonging the loss in output and employment that accompanied the Covid shock.
Lastly, the SBP would like to reiterate that its policy stance is geared towards price stability, while playing its due role in contributing to economic growth and development.
Getting this balance right through the various stages following Covid has been the key goal of monetary policy, and helps explain the path of policy actions.
KARACHI, November 29, 2021 – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has published the official exchange rates for November 29, 2021, based on the weighted average rates of commercial banks.
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday signed an agreement for a deposit of $3 billion from Saudi Fund for Development (SFD).
The SBP in a statement said that a deposit agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, represented by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), was signed on Monday by the Chief Executive Officer of SFD, H.E. Sultan Bin AbdulRahman Al-Marshad and the Governor SBP, Dr. Reza Baqir at the State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi, Pakistan.
Under this deposit agreement, SFD shall place a deposit of USD 3.0 billion with SBP.
The deposit amount under the agreement shall become part of SBP’s Foreign Exchange Reserves. It will help support Pakistan’s foreign currency reservesand contribute towards resolving the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The deposit agreement reflects the strong and special relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and will further augment the economic ties between the two brotherly countries, the SBP said.
