Business

SBP projects GDP growth to remain between at 3-4%

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

SBP says economy will grow at slower pace.
Economy had expanded by 6% during last fiscal year.
SBP had already cut the economic growth to about 2%.

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday projected that Pakistan’s economy will grow at a slower pace in the ongoing fiscal year compared to what was predicted a few months ago due to the catastrophic flood losses and falling demand, and as high interest rates, reported The News.

“Taking into account the destruction caused by floods and the policy focus on stabilisation, the SBP projects real GDP [Gross Domestic Product] growth below the previously announced range of 3-4% for FY-2023,” said the central bank in its annual report on the State of Pakistan’s Economy for the fiscal year 2021/22.

The economy had expanded by 6% during the last fiscal year. The SBP had already cut the economic growth to about 2% in its monetary policy statement in October.

The SBP’s growth projection was not only based on flood-related fallout on the economy, which is anticipated to affect the real economic activity through a variety of channels and have a considerable negative impact on output.

The country’s economy was given dim predictions by international financial institutions as well. The World Bank predicts that this fiscal year’s GDP growth would be 2.2%. The country’s GDP was projected by the International Monetary Fund to grow by 3.5% without taking the impacts of the floods into account.

The central bank’s economic report card for FY-2022 was released amid a balance of payments crisis.

Pakistan severely needs external financing while the IMF’s ninth review has been pending since September. The forex reserves have fallen to $6.7 billion, hardly enough for a month’s worth of imports.

On inflation, the central bank has projected that the prices would go beyond the previously announced range of 18-20% during the ongoing fiscal. The consumer price index inflation is expected to be in the 21-23 range, according to its last monetary policy statement.

“Supply shocks in the form of the rollback of energy subsidies and resumption of fuel taxation and losses to agriculture produce caused by floods are likely to influence the inflation trajectory during the year. The elimination of subsidies and increase in fuel taxation triggered a sharp increase in inflation since June 2022, and the trend is likely to persist in FY2023,” it said in the report.

The coordinated fiscal and monetary policy stance is likely to reduce external account pressures in FY2023.

The SBP sees the current account deficit to be around 3% of GDP. This improvement would be driven by a sizeable contraction in import growth.

Likewise, global commodity prices have also started to soften after reaching multiyear peaks in FY-2022, which will reduce the pressure caused by a large price impact, it said.

However, the downturn in global demand may also weaken the growth of exports, and the tightening of policies in advanced economies would lessen the likelihood of capital flows to emerging and developing economies.

After seeing a surge in FY-2021, the workers’ remittances seem to have peaked in FY-2022 and are probably going to stay at a similar level in FY-2023, it noted.

“Alongside the IMF programme disbursements, the country is expected to receive external financing from multilateral and bilateral creditors that will considerably strengthen FX reserves position during FY2023.”

Business

FBR Reforms: PM Leading Reforms Process with Law Minister as Top Priority

Published

19 hours ago

Farwa

According to Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Prime Minister Shehbaz is leading the entire reform process, and the Federal Government has made the reforms at the Federal Board of Revenue its top priority.

According to the law minister, who was speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, there are presently one billion rupees worth of tax cases pending in court. The parliament has for the first time passed legislation on tax tribunals in an effort to streamline and accelerate the legal process.

He stated that, strictly according to merit, there have already been a few postings and transfers in the FBR and that more are anticipated in the next few days.

Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar, who accompanied the Law Minister, stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is spearheading an effective foreign policy through productive meetings with world leaders.

He declared the premier’s trip to Saudi Arabia, where Shehbaz Sharif met with government representatives and corporate executives who indicated interest in investing in Pakistan, a success.

Atta Tarar also declared that a commercial team from Saudi Arabia would be visiting soon.

Business

Pakistan will host an IMF team in May to discuss a new loan.

Published

20 hours ago

Farwa

According to sources, negotiations on a fresh loan program have been set between Pakistan and the foreign lender. There will be two stages to the meetings: technical discussions and policy-level conversations.

Prior to the upcoming negotiations, Pakistan must overcome formidable economic obstacles, including the collapse of an IMF-proposed tax amnesty program.

Although it hasn’t worked, the federal government had promised to include 3.1 million merchants in the scheme’s tax net. The recent turnover of senior officials has placed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in an atypical position.

The negotiation process with the IMF will be difficult for the new and inexperienced FBR team. The significant drop in FBR’s tax collections would likely worry the IMF.

A day prior, Pakistan obtained the eagerly awaited $1.1 billion last installment from the IMF as a component of the $3 billion standby agreement.

Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 828 million, or $1.1 billion in worth, were given to the SBP “after the successful completion of the second review by the Executive Board of IMF under Stand By Arrangement (SBA),” according to the SBP.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb stated Islamabad might obtain a staff-level agreement on the new program by early July. Pakistan is seeking a new, longer-term, and larger IMF loan.

Although Aurangzeb has neglected to specify the specific program in question, Islamabad has stated that it is seeking a loan for a minimum of three years in order to support macroeconomic stability and carry out long-overdue and difficult structural reforms. Should it be approved, Pakistan would receive its 24th IMF bailout.

Business

In FY2024, SRB tax revenue soars to Rs 185.2 billion.

Published

20 hours ago

Farwa

In a statement released here, the SRB’s chairman, Wasif Memon, stated that he briefed Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah about the organization’s revenue collections during their meeting.

In comparison, the tax collection during the same period of the previous financial year 2022–2023 stood at Rs143.3 billion. This achievement represents a 29 percent year-over-year growth, according to the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB), which recorded record revenue of Rs185.2 billion during the first nine months of the fiscal year 2023–2024.

The CM stated at the time that the SRB has shown tenacity and efficiency in revenue collection in spite of facing a number of difficulties, including the general economic downturn.

According to the statement, SRB’s monthly tax collection for April 2024 was Rs18.8 billion, a 23 percent increase from the Rs15.2 billion collected in the same month the previous year.