April,03(A. E Report)—— Petroleum products’ sales clocked in at 1.11 million tons in March, registering a decline of over 39% year-on-year, mainly due to lower demand of Furnace Oil (FO) for power generation and slowdown in economic activity due to Ramadan effect, said experts.March registered lowest monthly sales number in 35 months where FO sales nosedived by 70% YoY in March 2023, amounting to 0.09 million tons, data showed.Sale of MS (petrol), fell 28% YoY, clocking in at 0.56 million tons in March. Volume of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) plunged by 43% YoY, settling at 0.40 million in March 2023.On a month-on-month basis, POL products offtake witnessed a drop of 9% during March. Volumes of MS inched up slightly by 1%, whereas HSD and ...
April 4, 2023 at 12:16 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 03(Agencies)—Most Asian currencies fell on Monday, with the South Korean won suffering the biggest drop after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced a surprise cut in oil output that stoked fears about persistent inflation.The South Korean won slumped as much as 1.5%, its worst day in about a month. The currency is emerging Asia’s weakest, having lost more than 4% on a year-to-date basis.Brent oil futures rallied in early trade after OPEC+ announced late on Sunday further oil production cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day. That overshadowed market optimism over a softer reading of core inflation from the United States on Friday.A jump in oil prices usually results in a sell-off in riskier assets ...
April 4, 2023 at 12:13 pm | Economic Affairs
April,03(EA Report)——Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) on Monday extended its shutdown of its motorcycle plant till April 15 and suspending its automobile plant operations from April 7 to April 14 due to inventory shortage as import restrictions continue to hit the auto sector.The company shared the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).“Due to shortage of inventory level… the management of the company has decided to extend shutdown period of its motorcycle plant till April 15, 2023,” read the notice.“The automobile plant will also observe shutdown on April 07, 2023 & April 14, 2023 due to shortage of inventory level,” it added.PMSC is the local assembler, manufacturer and marketer of Suzuki cars, pic...
April 4, 2023 at 12:11 pm | Economic Affairs
April,01(Agencies)--Prices of new homes in 100 Chinese cities rose at the fastest pace in nine months in March as government support measures helped demand pick up in large and midsize cities, a private survey showed on Saturday.New home prices rose 0.02% from the previous month after a flat reading in February, the fastest rise since June, one of the country’s largest independent real estate researchers, data from the China Index Academy says.In March, 41 cities reported increases, up from 26 in February, the survey firm said.The property sector, which accounts for a quarter of China’s economy, was badly hit last year as many developers could not finish projects, leading mortgage boycotts by some buyers. COVID-19 lockdowns and movemen...
April 1, 2023 at 4:31 pm | Economic Affairs
April 01 (E.A Report)--Pakistan's Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation clocked in at 35.4% on a year-on-year basis in March 2023 as against to an increase of 31.5% of February and 12.7% in March 2022. On a month-on-month basis, it increased to 3.7%, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data released on Saturday shows.Data showed highest year-on-year inflation since the available data i.e. July 1965,” which takes 9MFY23 average inflation to 27.3% compared to 10.8% in 9MFY22.The transport group witnessed an increase of 55% YoY.As per PBS data, the food group, commands a significant weight of 34.58% in the inflation reading, remained the major driver behind the increase. It increased from 170.06 in March 2022 to 250.25 in March 2023, a...
April 1, 2023 at 4:29 pm | Economic Affairs
March,31(Agencies)-- Malaysian palm oil futures dropped on Friday after four days of gains as profit-booking and a stronger ringgit weighed on prices, although the benchmark contract was set for a weekly rise amid output concerns.The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1.72% to 3,723 ringgit ($845.18) by the midday break, erasing some of the 7.67% gains over the past four days.For the week so far, the contract is up 6%, but is on track to post a monthly loss. Palm dropped on “weekend profit-taking, and external markets gradually easing, coupled with a firmer ringgit,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said adding, txpectations of higher exports may cushion the drop.Cargo surveyors are...
April 1, 2023 at 8:55 am | Economic Affairs
March,31(EA Report) -- Finance Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed of a $2 billion loan from China by saying that has been rolled over and is "no longer pending", denying reports that talks were still in progress.“I want to confirm that the $2 billion deposit from China, which was due on 23 March, is no longer pending,” said Dar, while answering a query raised by Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani pertaining to China's loan rollover at the Parliament.“Moreover, the documentation (of this loan) for 2023-24 is also completed" he said, adding that it is "no longer in the pipeline."Earlier, Reuters had reported that China is still working on a request by Pakistan to roll over the loan that matured last week, citing a top finan...
April 1, 2023 at 8:53 am | Economic Affairs
March,31(EA Report)-- Ministry of Finance (MoF) has warned that inflation is expected to remain high, and may even increase further due to “market frictions caused by relative demand and supply gap of essential items, exchange rate depreciation and recent upward adjustment of administered prices of petrol and diesel.”In its ‘Monthly Economic Update & Outlook’, the ministry said that due to the lagged effect of floods, production losses especially of major agriculture crops has not yet been fully recovered.“Consequently, the shortage of essential items has emerged and persisted. Inflation may further jack up as a result of second round effect”.The development comes as Pakistan remains engulfed in one of its worst economic cr...
April 1, 2023 at 8:52 am | Economic Affairs
March,30(Agencies) Asian currencies took a dip on Thursday with advancing dollar, where investors shifting their attention back towards the US and global monetary policy tightening campaigns as the crisis in the global financial sector eases.The Thai baht led regional peers lower, down 0.4% after two days of straight gains, following a fifth consecutive 25 basis points (bps) hikes on Wednesday.The currency is on track for a monthly gain of over 2.5% in March. We view lesser pressure for the central bank to intervene further via monetary policy to combat inflation rate. In addition, the gradual shift in the US Federal Reserve’s funds rate trajectory would reduce external pressure on the Baht as well as Bank Of Thailand monetary path,“ s...
March 30, 2023 at 1:34 pm | Economic Affairs
March,30(Agencies)--Asia’s stock markets held recent gains on Thursday amid receded banking crisis as investors weighed whether a break-up of Chinese conglomerate Alibaba signals Beijing’s regulatory storm aimed at tech companies might finally be clearing.MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2%. Like the S&P 500 it’s recovered from March lows hit as fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank reverberated around global markets. Global stocks are on course for a 4.9% quarterly gain.Japan’s Nikkei, which is heading for a 6% quarterly gain, slipped 0.8% on Thursday. US and European stock futures were broadly steady.Calmer markets mean investors can now afford to focus more on economics, with German, Span...
March 30, 2023 at 1:34 pm | Economic Affairs
March,28(Agencies)-- British grocery inflation rose again in March to a record 17.5%, industry data showed on Tuesday, against 10.4% of February figures.Inflicting yet more pain on consumers battling a cost-of-living crisis, market researcher Kantar said prices were rising fastest in markets such as eggs, milk and cheese.It said UK households now face an additional 837 pounds ($1,028) on their annual shopping bills if they do not change their behaviour to cut costs. “It’s more bad news for the British public, who are experiencing the ninth month of double-digit grocery price inflation,” said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight.The Kantar data for March provides the most up to date snapshot of UK grocery in...
March 28, 2023 at 10:41 pm | Economic Affairs
March,28(Agencies)-Asian currencies firmed on Tuesday as confidence in the global banking system was boosted by a deal covering Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits and loans.With risk-on sentiment gaining traction, the Malaysian ringgit gained the most among regional peers, appreciating 0.6%, while the Indonesian rupiah touched its highest level since early February, rising 0.5%.US authorities backed a deal for First Citizens BancShares to buy Silicon Valley Bank’s assets, soothing wider worries about the sector sparked by the largest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis.“Some semblance of relative calm has descended upon markets with the absence of fresh headline banking scares,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and str...
March 28, 2023 at 10:40 pm | Economic Affairs
March,27(EA Report)-- Volatility reiged Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) at first opening day where benchmark KSE-100 ended the first trading session of the week flat, while the volume and value of shares traded improved from the last close.The benchmark index opened the session in the green, reaching an intraday high at 40,066.33. But later profit-taking was witnessed which pushed the index toward an intraday low of 39,840.72.At close, the benchmark index settled at 40,000.37, an increase of 58.32 points or 0.15%.A report from Topline Securities stated that the uncertainty pertaining to the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme played on investors’ minds.“During trading hours, mostly i...
March 27, 2023 at 10:13 pm | Economic Affairs
March,27(EA Report)--DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC) has successfully installed a 7MW on-grid solar power plant at its site in Khairpur, the company's notification Monday says.The company said the on-grid power plant has successfully started power generation.“It will decrease our power cost mix, reduce carbon foot prints and curtail reliance on expensive fossil fuels,” the cement maker said.DGKC is one of the largest cement manufacturers in Pakistan with a production capacity of 22,400 tons per day (6.72 million tons/annum). It has four cement plants, two in Dera Ghazi Khan, one in Khairpur district Chakwal and one at Hub Lasbela district (Balochistan).Last year in June, DGKC had signed an agreement and established Letter of Cred...
March 27, 2023 at 10:12 pm | Economic Affairs
March,27(Agencies)--The United States will likely enter a recession this year and face high inflation well into 2024, a majority of economists predicted in their response to a semiannual survey.More than two-thirds of respondents to the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Policy Survey also see inflation remaining above four percent at the end of this year.The survey summarized the responses of 217 NABE members, and was conducted between March 2 and March 10, the organization said in a statement.The US Federal Reserve has raised rates 4.75 percentage points in a bid to tackle rising inflation, which reached its highest level in decades last year.Price rises slowed slightly to an annual level of 6.0 percent in February, which...
March 27, 2023 at 10:11 pm | Economic Affairs
March,27(EA Desk)--The chairman of Saudi National Bank, which was the main shareholder of troubled lender Credit Suisse before its buyout this month, has resigned, a statement said on Monday.The Saudi bank’s board of directors “accepted the resignation” of Ammar AlKhudairy “due to personal reasons”, said the statement published on the Saudi stock exchange.Credit Suisse’s shares plummeted on March 15 after AlKhudairy said the Saudi bank would not raise its stake from 9.8 percent due to regulatory constraints.The following day, Credit Suisse rallied on the stock market after grabbing a $54 billion central bank lifeline in a bid to restore investor confidence.But fears about the health of the broader financial sector led to its ta...
March 27, 2023 at 10:10 pm | Economic Affairs
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate