Interview

July, 13(E. A Report) — Pakistan’s sovereign dollar bonds gained as much as 1.7 cents, Tradeweb data showed on Thursday, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave the official sign-off for a $3 billion bailout.The 2024 and 2027 maturities notched the strongest rallies, with the latter rising by 1.75 cents by 0629 GMT.The 2027 is at a 10-month high of just over 53 cents on the dollar, while the 2024 is at its highest in more than a year trading just under 80 cents.Pakistan, which has been teetering on the edge of default due to an acute foreign currency shortage, also got $1 billion from the United Arab Emirates and $2 billion from Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

July 13, 2023 at 3:07 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 13(E. A Report) —International Monetary Fund (IMF) has deposited $1.2 billion into the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), announced Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday.“I would like to share the information that the IMF has deposited $1.2 billion upfront payment in the account of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),” said Dar“Last night, the IMF Executive Board approved the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).“Under the agreement, Pakistan received an instalment of $1.2 billion and the remaining $1.8 billion would be disbursed after two reviews, which will be held in November and February.“This would boost foreign exchange reserves, and after this week’s closing on Friday, SBP reserves would have increased by $4.2 billion this week,” h...

July 13, 2023 at 2:49 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 13(Agencies) ——World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved $100 million for the Punjab Family Planning Program, as it seeks to increase the utilization of family planning services in the province.As per a statement, the program will provide timely access to family planning services free of charge.It will also institutionalize quality of care across the family planning services delivery system, and support public information and advocacy campaigns so that more families are made aware of the benefits of family planning, the World Bank said.“This important program aims to achieve universal access to reproductive healthcare and to raise the usage of family planning methods in Punjab to 60% by 2030,” Najy Benh...

July 13, 2023 at 2:17 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 12(Agencies) — A bruised dollar was nudged lower still in Asia on Thursday, as traders took surprisingly slow US inflation as a signal US interest rate rises will be all but finished by month’s end.Dollar had its worst session in five months overnight, falling more than 1% against the euro to its lowest in more than a year and notching even larger losses elsewhere.The euro hit a fresh 15-month high of $1.1141 in early Asia trade and the yen, up 0.3% at 138.16 per dollar, was its strongest since mid-May.US dollar index fell marginally to 100.47, its lowest since April 2022. The New Zealand dollar reached a two-month high of $0.6309 and the Aussie a three-week peak of $0.6796.The moves were small, yet showed traders’ faith the do...

July 13, 2023 at 10:40 am | Economic Affairs

July, 12(E. A Report) — Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deposited $1 billion in Pakistan’s central bank, another boost for the country’s depleting foreign exchange reserves.“We have gotten the confirmation that the UAE has deposited the amount into the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),” said Dar in a video message. “Pakistan’s reserves have now increased by $3 billion after the $2 billion from Saudi Arabia.”“The improved position will be reflected in the reserves on July 14.”The inflows were committed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia earlier this year, and formed part of the financing assurances needed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to complete Pakistan’s ninth rev...

July 12, 2023 at 8:34 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 12(Agencies) — Majority shareholders of an offshore holding company that owns most K-Electric said on Wednesday of initiating legal proceedings to seek direct ownership of a stake in the utility.The power utility’s holding structure has widely been considered an impediment to its acquisition by China’s state-owned Shanghai Electric, a deal that has lingered for years due to regulatory and legal hurdles in Pakistan.Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund SPV21 (IGCF), which has a 53.8% shareholding in Cayman Island-registered KES Power Limited (KESP), which in turn owns 66.4% of K-Electric, told Reuters it had filed for a Just & Equitable Winding Up of KESP in the Grand Court of Cayman Islands on Tuesday.“By this action, SP...

July 12, 2023 at 5:06 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 12(Agencies) ——Prices for sour crude oil have climbed globally this month after top exporter Saudi Arabia hiked prices and expanded production cuts of higher-sulfur oil in the first sign its efforts to prop up global prices is having an impact.The de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this month deepened its production cuts to 1 million barrels per day in response to benchmark prices that fell to below $72 a barrel this summer.“The kingdom’s curbs have had an outsized impact on the supply of medium-and heavy-sour barrels,” Mark Rossano, a partner at energy data provider Primary Vision Network, said.The increases - seen among North Sea, US and Canadian sour crude grades - have jumped...

July 12, 2023 at 2:56 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 12(Agencies) ——US dollar sank to a two-month low against its major peers on Wednesday in the lead-up to a key US inflation reading, while sterling scaled a 15-month top on expectations the Bank of England (BoE) has further to go in raising rates.US inflation data is due later on Wednesday, with expectations core consumer prices rose 5% on an annual basis in June.The figures should also provide further clarity on the Federal Reserve’s progress in its fight against inflation.Ahead of the release, the US dollar fell to a two-month low of 101.45 against a basket of currencies, extending its losses from the start of the week after Fed officials said the central bank was nearing the end of its current monetary policy tightening cycle...

July 12, 2023 at 2:49 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 11(Agencies) ——China’s yuan inched up against the dollar on Tuesday after the central bank continued to set a firmer-than-expected midpoint fixing, while extended financial policy support for the troubled property sector also underpinned sentiment.China’s central bank on Monday extended a rescue package to shore up the real estate sector, which is struggling to gain traction despite a range of measures aimed at easing a liquidity crunch that has plagued it since mid-2020.The move “could be a signal that more property easing is coming,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie.“Looking ahead, we expect to see more easing on the demand side, such as lowering the down-payment ratio and easing purchase restrictions...

July 11, 2023 at 3:36 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 11(Agencies) ——China’s yuan inched up against the dollar on Tuesday after the central bank continued to set a firmer-than-expected midpoint fixing, while extended financial policy support for the troubled property sector also underpinned sentiment.China’s central bank on Monday extended a rescue package to shore up the real estate sector, which is struggling to gain traction despite a range of measures aimed at easing a liquidity crunch that has plagued it since mid-2020.The move “could be a signal that more property easing is coming,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie.“Looking ahead, we expect to see more easing on the demand side, such as lowering the down-payment ratio and easing purchase restrictions...

July 11, 2023 at 3:32 pm | Economic Affairs

July, 11(E. A Report) —— Saudi Arabia deposited an amount of USD 2 Billion with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) says Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.“This amount will be reflected in SBP’s reserves for this week” he added.These flows help Pakistan to get the nod of the IMF board for the disbursement of USD 3 billion on policies to be supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).The IMF Executive Board meeting to consider a $3 billion loan program for Pakistan will be held on July 12, the fund said.On June 29, 2023, the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with the Pakistani authorities on a nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) in the amount of SDR2,250 million (about $3 billion or 111 percent of Pakistan’s IMF quota). The new SBA...

July 11, 2023 at 3:16 pm | Economic Affairs

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has guts and attitude to engage with establishment, leaders and heads of international lenders to create a win-win situation By Qamar BashirPrime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, is affectionately called as Shahbaz Speed, a title bestowed upon him by Vice-Minister Zheng Xiaosong of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2018, and Shahbaz has proven himself worthy of this title time and again since then.He is not only known to deliver, his ability to resolve complex issues, and his loyalty to his brother, which has been put to the test time and again, but he has always emerged victorious. Unlike his elder brother Nawaz, Shahbaz has the guts and attitude to engage wi...

June 27, 2023 at 5:08 pm | Economic Affairs

Islamabad, 20 June 2023: President Dr. Arif Alvi has underscored the need to focus on economic and trade diplomacy to enhance the country’s exports. He added that increasing exports and foreign investment could help Pakistan overcome its economic challenges. The President expressed these views while talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Denmark and High-Commissioner-designate to Rwanda, who separately called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today. Talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Denmark, Mr. Shoaib Sarwar, the President urged him to especially focus on economic diplomacy initiatives to boost the country’s exports. He highlighted that the dairy and agriculture sector were important areas where Danish companies co...

June 20, 2023 at 3:25 pm | Economic Affairs

June. 06(E. A. Report) — Pakistan has proposed a GDP (gross domestic product) growth target of 3.5% and an inflation projection of 21% in estimates for its upcoming fiscal year 2023/24 budget, a top official source told.The government’s budget estimates suggest authorities are expecting inflation to ease out in the subsequent months after the headline figure hit a record high of 38% in May 2023. The monthly inflation number took 11MFY23 average inflation to 29.2% compared to 11.3% in 11MFY22.The inflation number for May was also higher than the prediction of Ministry of Finance that said it would be in the range of 34-36%.In its Monthly Economic Outlook for May, the Ministry of Finance had stated that “the inflation for the month of ...

June 6, 2023 at 6:24 pm | Economic Affairs

June. 06(Agencies) — Oil prices slipped early on Tuesday, coming off gains made the previous day as concerns of global economic backdrop outweighed supply worries raised when Saudi Arabia announced its biggest output cut in years.Brent crude futures slipped 27 cents to $76.44 a barrel by 0411 GMT.US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 33 cents to $71.82 a barrel.Brent had gained as much as $2.60 on Monday and US crude as much as $3.30 after Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter, said at the weekend its output would drop by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 9 million bpd in July.The benchmarks pulled back, though, to more modest gains by the end of the day. “Supply side issues took center stage following OPEC’s production cuts. How...

June 6, 2023 at 2:49 pm | Economic Affairs

His Excellency Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Interview by: Kashif Rizwan His Excellency Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, talks about the multi-lateral AMAN Exercise in the sea waters, and the unfathomable brotherly relations between the two brotherly nations in an exclusive interview with the Economic Affairs. Here are the excerpts; Excellency! How do you see conducting of Multilateral AMAN Exercise and PIMEC by Pakistan over the years? What is the significance of participating in these events for Saudi Arabia? The multilateral "AMAN Exercise" and the Pakistan International Maritime Exhibition and Conference, in which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continuously...

February 9, 2023 at 11:15 pm | Economic Affairs