Business

Bilateral debt restructuring not under consideration: SBP governor

Published

11 months ago

Farwa

SBP Governor Ahmad says restructuring not under consideration.
$0.4bn paid out of $3.6bn for this month, says Governor Ahmad.
Govt to decide appropriate time to issue Eurobond, governor adds.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad clarified Monday that Pakistan was not considering a bilateral debt restructuring that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had mentioned earlier.

“As of now there is no plan to enter into any debt restructuring. Absolutely no doubt about it. We are not considering any such plan; so there is no question of what will be the haircut,” he said during a briefing to analysts, according to The News.

After presenting the federal budget for FY2024, FinMin Dar said that the government was working on possibly restructuring its bilateral debt regardless of whether it completes its IMF review.

The SBP governor said most of the debt is bilateral and multilateral as they have paid large amounts of commercial debt and will pay Eurobonds when due, said Topline Securities, citing the governor.

The governor said that out of the total external repayment amount of $3.6 billion due this month, $0.4 billion has already been paid. The remaining balance of $2.3 billion will be rolled over, while $0.9 billion needs to be financed.

The total debt requirements for FY2024 will amount to approximately $23 billion, according to the SBP, which will be evenly distributed across four quarters.

In the next monetary policy statement, the SBP will come up with how to fund this depending upon IMF and other factors.

The governor highlighted that discussions are ongoing with IMF and hopeful that the review will conclude soon.

He expected that Rs1 trillion would be transferred to the government due to the profit earned by the SBP after retaining a specific portion during FY2024.

The SBP expects the current account deficit (CAD) for FY2023 will close to $3.5 billion (worst case $4 billion) due to policy induce import restrictions and available liquidity (exports and remittances).

The CAD for FY2024 will also be below $4 billion.

According to Ahmad, the government will decide the appropriate time to issue Eurobond, keeping market fundamentals and credit rating in mind.

Business

Pakistan’s gold prices continue to decline.

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

The price of ten grams of 24 carat gold dropped by Rs 1,201 to Rs 205,418 from Rs 206,619, while the price of ten grams of 22 carat gold dropped to Rs 188,300 from Rs 189,400, according to the All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association.

Silver, priced at Rs. 2,620 per tola and Rs. 2,254.80 per ten grams, stayed at that level. As reported by the organization, the price of gold dropped by $11 on the global market, to $2,297 from $2,308.

Business

Price of LPG “slashed” by Rs. 20 per kilogram

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

Sources claim that LPG rates have been lowered by Rs 20, making the cost per kilogram drop from Rs 280 to Rs 260.

It is noteworthy to remark that the costs of LPG were reduced by Rs 20 per kilogram earlier, resulting in a total reduction of Rs 40 per kilogram within a few weeks.

The price of liquefied petroleum gas for the month of May 2024 was lowered by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on April 30.

The LPG tariffs were lowered by Rs 11.88 to Rs 238.46 per kilogram in accordance with the OGRA’s notice. On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the new rates will go into effect.

In April of last year, the price per kilogram of LPG was Rs 250.34. pricing reduction of Rs 140.18 has resulted in a new pricing for home LPG cylinders set for May 2024 of Rs 2813.85.

The OGRA reported a drop in liquefied petroleum gas pricing in April. The price of LPG is now Rs 250.34 per kg instead of Rs 256.78 due to a reduction of Rs 6.44 per kg.

The price of the household cylinder was fixed at Rs 2954.03 for the month of April, down from Rs 3030.12, a decrease of Rs 76.9.

Business

ADB delegation stops by FBR headquarters

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

Senior Director ADB Tariq Niazi oversaw the expedition, which also involved Sana Masood, Farzana Noshab, and Senior Public Sector Management Specialist Laisiasa Tora. The meeting included presentations from economists as well, according to an FBR press release.

The officers focused on structural and policy adjustments as they discussed the Domestic Resource Mobilization Program’s implementation at the meeting.

$300 million was given to the Pakistani government by ADB in December 2023 as a result of the hard work and dedication of FBR. Better laws, regulations, and institutional capability for the FBR were established by Sub-Program I.

With the $300 million in funding provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the Government of Pakistan in December 2023, the delegation conveyed satisfaction with the program’s effective launch.

The FBR also underlined how crucial digitization is to recording the economy and boosting productivity in a sustainable way.

In order to promote the Government of Pakistan’s Digital Tax Administration Project, both parties decided to look into measures to improve their cooperation.