May, 04(E.A Report) — Pakistani rupee stayed comparatively stable against the US dollar by settling with a marginal improvement of 0.02% during the trading session on Thursday.According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), local currency closed at 283.82, an increase of Rs.0.06.Rupee, last day, registered a marginal gain against US dollar, settling at 283.88 in the inter-bank market.US Federal Reserve interest rates raised was a key development, which was a quarter of a percentage point and signaled, may pause further increases, giving officials time to assess the fallout from recent bank failures, wait on the resolution of a political standoff over the US debt ceiling, and monitor the course of inflation.Unanimous decision lifted the US...
May 4, 2023 at 6:01 pm | Economic Affairs
May, 04(Agencies) — South Korean won and Indonesian rupiah led gains among Asian currencies and regional bonds rallied on Thursday following US Federal Reserve signals of a pause in its aggressive policy tightening cycle.Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point overnight, but an omission from its policy statement marked a change in tone, as it no longer said it “anticipates” further rate increases would be needed.A pause should give Fed officials time and space to assess inflationary trends and ongoing challenges such the fallout from recent bank failures and the political standoff over the US debt ceiling.Rupiah appreciated 0.8% to 14,570 per US dollar, hitting its highest level since June 10, 2022. ...
May 4, 2023 at 6:00 pm | Economic Affairs
May, 03(E. A Report) — Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and the government of Punjab have agreed to join hands for development of sport industry in the province.A joint meeting in this regard was held here Wednesday at SMEDA head office in participation with provincial Secretary Sports.Shahid Zaman and Director General Sports Department Dr. Asif Tufail. From SMEDA, the meeting was attended by Ms. Nadia Jahangir Seth, General Manager Policy Planning and Mr. Javed Afzal, Provincial Chief SMEDA-Punjab. Adnan Mehmood Awan, Deputy Commissioner Sialkot and Sarwar Hanif, Project Director Sports Industry Development Center of SMEDA in Sialkot shared their views online through zoom.Meeting observed that adding modern tec...
May 4, 2023 at 5:58 pm | Economic Affairs
May, 03(E. A Report) —Pakistan petroleum products sales registered a decline of over 46% in April that was 1.17 million ton, amid economic slowdown and rise in prices.Decline in sales chiefly attributed to higher petroleum prices, economic slowdown, an increase in smuggled petroleum products from Iran, and lower furnace oil (FO)-based power generation”, data shows.FO sales nosedived by 83% year on during April, amounting to 0.07 million tons.Sale of MS (petrol) fell 24% on year on basis , clocking in at 0.58 million tons in April. Volume of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) plunged by 50% yearly, settling at 0.46 million in April 2023.However, on a month-on-month basis, POL products offtake witnessed an increase of 6% during April.Volumes of MS ...
May 4, 2023 at 5:56 pm | Economic Affairs
May, 02(Agencies) — Most Asian currencies stay flat or lower on Tuesday with dull local sentiment on unexpected contraction in China’s monthly manufacturing activity, besides investors held positions ahead of a US central bank meeting.Slow start to the week came after China on Sunday posted a surprise decline in manufacturing PMI for April, the first contraction since December 2022. Most Asian markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.“The contraction in manufacturing activity could put pressure on wages in both the manufacturing and service sectors. This would later turn into slower retail sales growth,” ING analysts said.While the onshore yuan did not trade on Monday and Tuesday, the offshore yuan fell 0.5% on Monday, and large...
May 2, 2023 at 2:33 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 28(E. A Report) — Uninted Bank Limited (UBL) registered above expected top-line growth, upwelling fee and forex income pumped earnings.Filing its first quarter result, UBL announced of printing earnings of Rs. 14.5 billion where EPS of Rs.11.6 increased by 53/9% year on and quarter basis respectively.Along with the result, bank announced a surprise dividend of Rs. 11.0/sh.Net Interest Income (NII) of the bank increased by a healthy 56% year on though it was lower than the increase noted in other banks due to UBL’s greater international exposure.NII accretion was driven by NIMs accretion backed by persistent rate hikes over the past 12 months and robust balance sheet expansion. On a sequential basis, increase was recorded at 10%....
April 29, 2023 at 8:42 am | Economic Affairs
April, 28(E. A Report) — Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan announced further extending plant shutdown till May 15, 2023.In its notice issued here Friday company says, “further to our letter dated April 13, 2023, and considering the current economic situation of Pakistan whereby the government resorted to stringent measures including restricting opening of LCs for import of CKD kits, raw materials and halting foreign payments, the company’s supply chain has also been severely disrupted by such measures”.“As a result, the company is not in a position to continue with its production and ultimately has continued to shut down its plant from May 1, 2023 to May 15, 2023.”Company has been observing a plant shutdown since March 9, 2023.It plann...
April 28, 2023 at 7:22 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 28(E. A Report) — Pakistani rupee registered a marginal gain against US dollar by settling with an appreciation of 0.03% during week end session on Friday.According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Rupee closed at 283.84 with an increase of Re0.08. Whereas Rupee sustained a loss against US dollar on Thursday, settling at 283.92 in the inter-bank market, a decrease of Re0.53.In a key development, United States called on Pakistan to move ahead on stalled reforms sought by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), promising technical help as the world’s fifth most populous nation weathers an economic crisis.“The reform(s) that Pakistan and the IMF agreed to are not easy, but it’s crucial that Pakistan take these actions to bring t...
April 28, 2023 at 7:20 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 28(E. A Report) ——Liaison with business community, facilitation to the exporters and well consulted policies are the key tools to achieve the economic goals and to put the country on the path of economic development of the country.These views were expressed by the LCCI President Kashif Anwar while addressing newly recruited Appraisers/Inspectors and Intelligence Officers of Pakistan Customs Academy at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.Coordinator of the delegation Mohsin Ali Tahir and former LCCI Executive Committee Member Haji Muhammad Asif Sehar also spoke on the occasion.LCCI President answered various questions of the participants in detail and shed light on the ongoing economic scenario in the country.Kashif Anwar...
April 28, 2023 at 5:58 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 28(E. A Report) —National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) operational expenses have reached to 21.2 billion in first quarter, which are 26.3% higher as compared to Rs. 16.8 billion last year.According to Bank’s filing, in addition to operating expenses of the Bank, “Other” operating expenses increased to Rs. 3.2 billion depicting a 26.1% hike for the period under review.According to Bank’s filing, HR cost that constitutes around 67.7% of the total operating expenses, amounted to Rs. 14.3 billion against Rs. 11.6 billion in March last year. This increase reflects the impact of annual pay increase, charge for defined benefit plans and other HR related provisions. While property related expenses amounted to Rs. 2.4 billion against Rs....
April 28, 2023 at 5:56 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 28(E. A Report) — TRG Pakistan Limited reported profit of Rupees 25.7 billion for the nine-month, chiefly on exchange gains.According to company filing, chief profit increase attributed to be driven both by profit from their associate as well as exchange gain on our investment due to a weaker PKR to USD exchange rate.Most significant item on TRG Pakistan balance sheet is value of company’s share in its associate The Resource Group International Limited (TRGIL), their sole operating asset.Compony showed value of share in TRGIL as Rs 87.1 billion, representing an increase of Rs.30.4 billion compared to Rs. 56.7 billion on June last year. That increase attributed to be driven both by profit from their associate as well as exchange ...
April 28, 2023 at 12:08 pm | Economic Affairs
April, 28(Agencies)— Oil prices with little dip on Friday are set for their second weekly drop as disappointing US economic and uncertainty on further interest rate hikes raised concerns about future fuel demand.Brent crude futures for June have been trading at $78.53 a barrel, up 16 cents, or 0.2%, as of 0156 GMT.That contract expires on Friday and the more active July contract was up 21 cents, or 0.3% at 78.43 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 23 cents, or 0.3%, at $74.99 a barrel.Brent is set to decline this week by 3.8% and is down 9.1% in the past two weeks.WTI is on a path to drop 3.8% this week, taking its two-week decline to 9.4%.US economic growth slowed more than expected in the first quarter, although job...
April 28, 2023 at 11:18 am | Economic Affairs
April, 28(Agencies)— US dollar got on track for a second straight monthly loss on Friday with mounting expectations of Federal Reserve could soon end its aggressive rate-hike cycle, whereas Yen steadied near a one-week high ahead of a pivotal central bank decision.Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) monetary policy decision on Friday takes centre stage in Asia, where expectations are for new BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to keep monetary settings ultra-loose at his debut policy meeting.Focus will also be on Ueda’s tone, with investors closely looking out for any tweak in forward guidance.Ahead of the decision, the Japanese yen was roughly 0.1% higher at 133.84 per US dollar, and similarly gained more than 0.1% against the British pound.“I don’t expe...
April 28, 2023 at 11:17 am | Economic Affairs
April, 27(E. A Report) — State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $30 million, clocking in at $4.46 billion as of April 21, data released on Thursday showed.Number still stands at a critical level of around a month of import cover whereas total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $10.02 billion in addition of net foreign reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $5.56 billion. “During the week ended on April 20, 2023, SBP reserves increased by $30 million to $4,462.8 million,” said a statement from SBP.Last week, SBP’s reserves increased by $394 million.Finance Minister Ishaq Dar notified earlier receipt of $300 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (IC...
April 28, 2023 at 8:41 am | Economic Affairs
April, 27(E. A Report) —Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) reporting above expected earnings of Rs10.7Bn, 161% up on year on respectively.However, Bank did not announce an interim dividend where Net Interest Income (NII) increased by a massive 96% to Rs 27.9 billion in fist quarter aided by NIMs accretion, robust CA ratio and hefty balance sheet growth.Operating expenses of the bank increased by a sizable 44% to Rs 15.0 billion on the back of the management’s ongoing investment in the brick and mortar model, higher remuneration charges, IT related expenditure and inflation.Bank’s well profiled investments book with greater exposure in short term paper and floating rate bonds has enabled the sizable top-line growth. Going forward, there are ...
April 28, 2023 at 8:39 am | Economic Affairs
April, 27(E. A Report) —United Arab Emirates based Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah acquired a controlling stakes of Summit Bank.State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, and Competition Commission of Pakistan have approved this banking sector acquisition where investor subscribed to 3.98 billion new shares of the Bank at Rs 2.51 per share, Rs 10 billion has already been injected into the Bank in January 2023 through an advance payment for the proposed share issuance.Summit Bank is well-positioned to become a market leader in the banking industry with the Investor’s acquisition and a renewed focus on Islamic finance principles.President of Summit Bank, Jawad Majid Khan, emphasized that the Bank’s revival in...
April 28, 2023 at 8:37 am | Economic Affairs
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate