Business

Pakistan to ‘complete IMF programme’

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Premier directs economic team to increase power generation.
PM Shehbaz emphasises need to reduce circular debt.
Differences between IMF and Pakistan still persist.

Amid uncertainty over the delay in the 9th review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday rejected all news reports, saying that Pakistan would complete the programme.

Pakistan and the IMF have been holding talks virtually but differences still persist over tax collection targets, and non-starter energy reforms including hiking of gas tariff, rising circular debt, and expenditure overrun, making consensus harder to strike on a staff-level agreement in the context of the 9th review under $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

PM Shehbaz, during an important meeting held on the economic situation, directed the authorities concerned to provide support to the exporters in order to increase exports and manage twin deficits.

وزیراعظم شہبازشریف کی زیرصدارت معاشی صورتحال کے بارے میں اہم اجلاس
عالمی مالیاتی فنڈ (آئی۔ ایم۔ایف) کے ساتھ موجودہ پروگرام پورا کرے گی، برآمدات میں اضافے کے لئے ایکسپورٹرز کی بھرپور مدد کریں گے اور تمام ممکنہ سہولیات فراہم کی جائیں گی۔ pic.twitter.com/A35zaQJl6o
— PML(N) (@pmln_org) December 14, 2022

The premier said when the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government came into power in April after ousting then-prime minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion, the economy was struggling miserably.

“We stabilised the economy by working hard,” he said, directing the economic team to take measures to complete the IMF programme and manage the rising current account deficit.

In line with the concerns raised by the Washington-based lender, PM Shehbaz gave directives that the relevant ministries should work on energy policies. He added that power generation should be increased while the circular debt should be brought down.

It should be noted that the IMF had asked Pakistan for hiking the gas tariff because the government kept the gas prices unchanged which resulted in increasing the circular debt of the gas sector.

Although the government made plans for improving the gas sector no progress was witnessed in the power sector.

The monster of circular debt in the power sector went up to Rs2.4 trillion and all targets agreed with the IMF for reducing it on a monthly and quarterly basis could not be achieved.

The subsidy on tube-wells alone would cause an increase of Rs200 billion in the accumulated circular debt in the ongoing financial year.

Business

China Contributes 43 New Foreign Firms to the 6% Growth in SECP Registrations

Published

11 hours ago

Farwa

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has registered 2,617 new firms this year, a 6% increase from 2023, with assistance from the Special Investment Facilitation Council. This increases the overall number of businesses that are registered to 231,111.

Non-profits, trade associations, and public unlisted firms make up 4% of these, while private limited corporations make up 55% and single-member companies 41%. It is noteworthy that 99.8% of the registrations were done online, demonstrating SECP’s attempts to digitise.

Real estate has 237 new businesses, services has 306, and trade has 377 new businesses. These are the main sectors exhibiting growth. While the healthcare and textile industries each had 49 new businesses, the education sector saw 101.

China contributed the most, adding 43 new companies, out of the 61 new companies that were registered as a result of foreign investment.

These recently registered businesses are anticipated to decrease imports, increase domestic production, and contribute to closing the trade deficit.

Business

PSX reaches an all-time high as the KSE-100 Index surpasses 86,000 points.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has achieved a significant milestone, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index has attained an unprecedented peak.

On Tuesday at midday, the index ascended by 788 points, attaining a record high of 86,846 points. Following the ratification of the constitutional amendments, the stock market has increased by 1500 points over a span of two days.

Earlier today, the KSE-100 Index increased by 683 points, attaining a value of 86,741 points, before concluding at this new apex.

The bullish trend was apparent from the commencement of the trading session, with the index rising an additional 555 points to reach 86,612 points throughout the day. The reinstatement of the 86,500-point threshold signifies robust market performance.

Business

In three months, Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 33.54 percent.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

During the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July to September), Pakistan’s IT export remittances hit US$ 876 million, a notable 33.54 percent rise from US$ 656 million during the same period previous year (FY 2023-24).

In a statement, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the amount of money sent home by the export of ICT services was US$ 292 million in September 2024, a 41.7% increase from US$ 206 million in the same month the previous year.

She stated that efforts to make it easier for businesses to conduct business in the nation are the reason why IT exports are rising and that actions are being taken to increase them.

In response to the Prime Minister’s directions, Shaza Fatima stated that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the IT industry are dedicated to boosting IT exports with the full assistance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

A trade surplus of US$ 764 million was recorded by the IT & ITeS sector in the first three months of FY 2024–25, accounting for 87.21 percent of all ICT export remittances.

Over the same period last year, this surplus represents a 36.67 percent gain over US$ 559 million. The services industry as a whole, however, experienced a trade deficit of US$ 699 million during this period.

The largest of all service sectors, ICT export remittances from July to September 2024, were US$ 656 million, followed by “other business services” at US$ 374 million.