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EA ReportKarachi: Sep. 20 — The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the key interest rate by 25 basis points following alarming yet highly anticipated levels of Current Account (CAD)Policymakers seek to find a balance between Pakistan's economic growth and its bulging trade deficit while taming inflationary pressures.SBP previously increased the interest rate in July 2019, when it took it to the maximum level of 13.25%. and gradually reduced the key rate, eventually bringing it to 7% in June 2020 and maintaining it in the next six monetary policy announcements.The interest rate now stands at 7.25%.Earlier, some market participants said they expected the central bank to maintain the key intere...

September 20, 2021 at 5:31 pm | Economic Affairs

Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver policy address to the high-level segment of the 76th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver the policy address during the session through a video statement, outlining Pakistan’s perspective on key global and regional issues. Separately, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be visiting New York from 21-25 September 2021. During the visit, he will participate in various high-level meetings and side events, and deliver a Talk at the Council on Foreign Relations. The Foreign Minister will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts and the UN leadership. He will also interact with a cross-section of the international media and meet the dyna...

September 20, 2021 at 5:28 pm | Economic Affairs

20 September 2021Vienna ( Press Release)Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Muhammad Naeem and Head of Turkish Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK) Prof. Dr Abdulkadir Balikci Inaugurated Pakistan’s national exhibition stand at the annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, today. Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications Ms. Najat Mokhtar also attended the inauguration. She said that Pakistan had great made strides in harnessing nuclear technologies for pursuing socioeconomic development. She appreciated Pakistan’s decades long collaboration with the IAEA. Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan’s Permanent Represen...

September 20, 2021 at 5:18 pm | Economic Affairs

Agencies. 20 Sep.Most stock markets in Gulf region kneeled down on Monday early trade, replicating weakness in Asian shares and oil prices, with Dubai leading declines.Oil dropped more than $1 a barrel to below $75 on Monday as rising risk aversion weighed on stock markets and boosted the US dollar, while more US Gulf oil output came back online in the wake of two hurricanes.Asian shares skidded ahead of a week packed with global central bank meetings, with Evergrande's troubles adding to growing concerns about the health of China's economy after Beijing's recent crackdown on tech firms had haunted the region.Oil prices extended losses from the previous session after energy companies in the US Gulf of Mexico resumed production after back-t...

September 20, 2021 at 5:14 pm | Economic Affairs

EA Report.Lahore : 20 Sep. — Only a single trading house showed its interest to participate international tender of buying 200,000 tonnes of sugar from Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) Monday, officials confirmed.No purchase of the white sugar sought has yet been reported, except Dreyfus trading house for 50,000 tonnes instead of 200,000 tonnes.Whereas, on the other hand, the offer of $670.00 a tonne c&f, was said to have been made, they said.Prices were sharply up from the $637.10 tonne c&f Pakistan paid in its last sugar purchase reported on Aug. 31. On Sept. 16, white sugar futures hit their highest level in 4-1/2 years on signs that global demand might be picking up, coupled with concerns about supplies from top producer...

September 20, 2021 at 2:48 pm | Economic Affairs

Agencies — 20 SepBEIJING/SINGAPORE: Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, kept its ranking as China's top crude supplier for a ninth straight month in August as major producers relaxed production cuts.Saudi oil arrivals surged 53% from a year earlier to 8.06 million tonnes, or 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.That compares with 1.58 million bpd in July and 1.24 million bpd in August last year.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, decided in July to ease production cuts and increase supply by a further 2 million bpd, adding 0.4 million bpd a month from August until December. In July, OPEC output increased by...

September 20, 2021 at 2:14 pm | Economic Affairs

SINGAPORE: Spot gold may test a support at $1,743 per ounce, a break below which could cause a fall into the $1,724-$1,736 range.The fall from the Sept. 3 high of $1,833.80 adopted a five-wave mode.The metal is riding on a powerful wave (3), which is likely to extend to $1,724.The bounce from the Sept. 8 low of $1,781.30 has been almost reversed. The reversal signals a continuation of the wave (3).Earlier, Gold prices hit a more than five-week low on Monday, as the dollar firmed with markets closely watching a US Federal Reserve meeting for clues on when the central bank will start tapering its pandemic-era stimulus.Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,748.13 per ounce by 0500 GMT, having earlier touched its lowest level since Aug. 12 at $1,741.86.US...

September 20, 2021 at 12:49 pm | Economic Affairs

Thinned trade by holidays in Japan, China and South Korea, the euro fell 0.1% to $1.1710, its lowest since late AugustReuters 20 SepSINGAPORE: The dollar rallied to a month-high in Asia on Monday as looming catastrophe at indebted developer China Evergrande added extra nerves to a cautious mood, with investors bracing for the Federal Reserve to take another step towards tapering this week.In trade thinned by holidays in Japan, China and South Korea, the euro fell 0.1% to $1.1710, its lowest since late August.The Australian dollar fell 0.5% to a three-week low of $0.7227 while sterling and the kiwi also hit multi-week troughs on the rising greenback. The dollar index rose 0.1% to 93.356, its highest since Aug. 23."The US dollar is having a ...

September 20, 2021 at 12:46 pm | Economic Affairs

AgenciesKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses on Monday, hovering near an 18-day low touched in the previous session, as prices were pressured by a sell-off in rival edible oils due to a rapid progress in the U.S harvest season.The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 77 ringgit, or 1.81%, to 4,184 ringgit ($999.04) a tonne during early trade.Earlier in the session, the contract tumbled up to 5.37%.Fundamentals The market is awaiting the Sept. 1-20 export data by cargo surveyors due later in the day.Favorable weather over the weekend boosted US harvest, while exports remain capped by terminals on the US Gulf Coast that continue to struggle with power outages...

September 20, 2021 at 12:38 pm | Economic Affairs

EA ReportISLAMABAD — Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has given grace period up to November 1, 2021 to the corporate taxpayers for switching over to the digital mode of payments under Tax Laws (3rd Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.FBR has also approached the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to issue necessary instructions to operationalize this provision of law, as well as, encourage the banking sector to facilitate the corporate businesses to accomplish digitization within the given time period, FBR release issued on Sunday to clarify the relevant clauses of the Tax Laws (3rd Amendment) Ordinance says.Officials said That FBR would convene a meeting with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday to work on modalities.The FBR vide the Tax Laws (3rd...

September 20, 2021 at 10:30 am | Economic Affairs

AgenciesOil Declines for a Second Session With Focus on Fed StimulusOil dropped as the dollar strengthened and investors turned their attention to a Federal Reserve meeting this week that’s expected to signal moving toward scaling back stimulus.Futures in New York fell 0.8% toward $71 a barrel amid a broader decline in stocks, led by Hong Kong. The dollar rose for a third day, making commodities priced in the currency less attractive to investors. Policy makers are poised to start laying the groundwork for reducing monthly asset purchases when the Fed meets for two days from Tuesday, a Bloomberg survey of economists showed.“Tapering jitters are back ahead of the U.S. Fed meeting and weighing on oil,” said Vandana Hari, founder of ene...

September 20, 2021 at 10:26 am | Economic Affairs

EA ReportKARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is unveiling its monetary policy today (Monday) for the next two months.The Monetary Policy Committee of SBP scheduled to meet on Monday at SBP Karachi to review the performance of key economic indicators and decide about the Monetary Policy. Later on, SBP will issue the Monetary Policy Statement.The committee in its last meeting held on 27th July 2021, decided to maintain the policy rate at 7 percent to support economic growth. The growth projected to rise from 3.9 percent in FY21 to 4-5 percent this year.And Economic recovery was expected to be accompanied by external stability by SBPHowever, the MPC has already said that it will carefully monitor the developments affecting medium-term p...

September 20, 2021 at 10:22 am | Economic Affairs

Rawalpindi (ISPR) Multinational Exercise Bright Star 2021 conducted at Mohamed Naguib Military Base, Egypt with 20 participant countries including Egypt, United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Cyprus, Iraq, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Kenya, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Greece, Kuwait, UAE, Tunisia, Nigeria, Tanzania and France.Pakistan contingent comprising Army, Navy and Pak Air Force troops participated for the first time since 2009. Closing ceremony of the exercise was held at Mohamed Naguib Military Base. Lieutenant General Moazzam Ejaz, Engineer-in-Chief, attended the closing ceremony of the exercise.The two weeks long exercise was focused on the capability to counter regional hybrid threats, strengthen regional stability by fo...

September 19, 2021 at 5:49 pm | Economic Affairs

ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday upheld the decision of the Banking Mohtasib in three similar cases, wherein it had ordered the banks to credit the lost money to their account holders in fraudulent digital transactions. The complainants Najma Sultana, a retired teacher and widow; Zahid Shah, a technician of Pakistan Air Force and Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry, a semi-literate person, had filed petitions with the Banking Mohtasib against Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) and United Bank Ltd (UBL) on inadvertent transactions of Rs 300,000, Rs 750,000 and Rs 250,000 from their accounts, respectively.In their pleas, the complainants had maintained that they had never requested for activation of the Internet Banking Facility (IB...

September 19, 2021 at 5:05 pm | Economic Affairs

Karachi (PR): JS Global Capital Limited (JSGCL), Pakistan’s leading equity brokerage and investment banking firm is organizing a business and investment conference titled ‘Pakistan Investment Conference 2019 (PIC-2019)’. This consultation is the fourth of its kind organized by JSGCL and is continuing till 6th September in Washington. These sessions showcase Pakistan’s economic growth and business potential amongst leading global investors to attract foreign direct and portfolio investment. Furthermore, by strengthening policy level engagement, the delegation strives to improve economic ties between the two nations. The high-powered delegation is be led by the Governor Sindh, Imran Ismail and includes Pakistan’s Ambassador at La...

September 5, 2019 at 2:34 pm | News Desk

BY: FAIZ PARACHA The power generation in February 2019 went down by 6 percent year-on-year to 6.4 billion units – lowest in 24 months. The power demand has slowed down considerably, evident from three consecutive months of year-on-year drop in power generation. There have only been four such instances in the last 36 months. All this while, the power generation capacity has soared to nearly 31000 MW – up 6000 MW from a year ago. Hydel generation is back to the fold, constituting the biggest share of 23 percent in the generation mix – up from just 6 percent last month. Hydel’s gain is furnace oil’s loss. These two sources have shown the strongest correlation in the recent months. The load falls on FO the moment there is a...

March 20, 2019 at 3:04 pm | News Desk