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OPEC and partners agree to 500,000 barrel per day production cut
Dec 06, 2019: The OPEC group of oil producing countries and their allies -- including Russia -- agreed on Friday to a production cut of 500,000 barrels per day in addition to their current agreement.
Ministers gathered at OPEC headquarters in Vienna "decided for an additional adjustment of 500 (thousand barrels per day)", effective as of 1 January 2020, according to a statement issued after the meeting.
This would bring production 1.7 million barrels per day below October 2018 levels.
However, the group said that "in addition, several participating countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, will continue their additional voluntary contributions," meaning the overall production cut would be 2.1 million barrels per day.
The statement said that OPEC and its partners in the so-called OPEC+ grouping would convene for a special meeting on 6 March.
OPEC members had been aiming for a cut in order to stem pressure on prices from abundant reserves and weak global economic growth.
Oil prices surged following the announcement, with US benchmark WTI and its European counterpart Brent both nearly two percent higher shortly after 1500 GMT.
AFP/APP
Private sector borrowing increases by Rs.35.35 billion in a week
December 06, 2019 (MLN): The non-government sector has borrowed another net sum of Rs.35.35 billion during the week ended November 29, 2019, which brings the cumulative net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year FY2020 to Rs.68.31 billion. The net borrowing as of prior week was recorded at Rs.32.96 billion.
According to weekly data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the sector's borrowing has dropped by Rs.407.84 billion over the year since the borrowing as of corresponding period of last year was recorded at Rs.476.14 billion.
The non government sector is divided into three broad categories namely, the Private Sector, the Public Sector Enterprises and NBFI. Commercial banks are the main source of financing for the private sector, incuding conventional banks, islamic banks and islamic branches of conventional banks.
This fiscal year, the private sector borrowed a net sum of Rs.86.63 billion, whereas the PSE's have retired Rs.18.93 billion and NBFI has borrowed Rs.606.29 million.
As we disintegrate the inflows and outflows within the private sector, we see that Conventional Banks lent a cumulative sum of Rs.45.89 billion, Islamic Banks lent Rs.13.85 billion and lastly the Islamic branches of Conventional Banks lent Rs.26.89 billion.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Govt. loans surge by Rs.187 billion in a week
December 06, 2019 (MLN): The government of Pakistan has acquired an additional debt of Rs.187.45 billion during the week ended November 29, 2019, which brings its total net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year 2020 to Rs.332.94 billion. As of prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.145.48 billion.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan's weekly estimates in this regard, this year's overall net borrowing as of this week has increased by Rs.30.51 billion over the year as last year's net borrowing for the same period stood at Rs.302.42 billion.
The government sector borrowings are divided into three broad categories based on the purpose of loan which are budgetary support, commodity operations and others.
Split three ways between these broad categories, the cumulative net borrowing for budgetary support was Rs.384.85 billion, while that for other purposes stood at Rs.1.34 billion. On the contrary, a net total of Rs.53.25 billion were retired off Commodity Operations.
The two biggest source of financing for budgetary support are the State Bank of Pakistan and the Scheduled Banks. This fiscal year, the central bank has lent out a net sum of Rs.137.19 billion to the government, out of which the Federal Government borrowed Rs.381.2 billion whereas, the Provincial Government retired Rs.230.3 billion, AJK Government retired Rs.11.08 billion, and the GB Government retired Rs.2.62 billion.
Meanwhile, the Scheduled Banks have lent out a net total of Rs.247.65 billion out of which the Federal Government borrowed Rs.252.31 billion while the Provincial Government retired Rs.4.65 billion.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Closing Bell: The KSE-100 Index lands in consolidation
December 6, 2019 (MLN): After yesterday’s successful performance of the stock market, the capital markets concluded today’s trade in consolidation as profit taking emerged in the second half of the session at higher levels which brought the index down to close almost flat as per Next capital.
The benchmark KSE -100 index gained 91 points in today’s session, closing the day at 40,732 points.
The Index traded in a range of 388.27 points or 0.96 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 40,982.45 and a low of 40,594.18.
Of the 96 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 46 closed up 49 closed down, while 1 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 268.60 million shares.
Sectors propping up the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 64 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 30 points, Insurance with 24 points, Fertilizer with 23 points and Chemical with 15 points.
The most points added to the index was by PPL which contributed 34 points followed by BAHL with 30 points, HUBC with 26 points, EFERT with 23 points and OGDC with 23 points.
Sector wise, the index was let down by Cement with 21 points, Pharmaceuticals with 17 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 13 points, Commercial Banks with 13 points and Refinery with 11 points.
The most points taken off the index was by PSO which stripped the index of 27 points followed by HBL with 21 points, SEARL with 15 points, KAPCO with 14 points and LUCK with 14 points.
All Share Volume decreased by 90.98 Million to 416.92 Million Shares. Market Cap increased by Rs.40.99 Billion.
Total companies traded were 382 compared to 404 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 185 closed up, 185 closed down while 12 remained unchanged.
Total trades decreased by 10,516 to 123,288.
Value Traded decreased by 4.95 Billion to Rs.15.18 Billion
| Company | Volume |
|---|---|
| Unity Foods | 53,506,000 |
| Fauji Cement Company | 31,956,000 |
| Maple Leaf Cement Factory | 18,771,500 |
| Fauji Foods | 16,424,500 |
| Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd | 14,015,000 |
| Lalpir Power | 13,272,000 |
| The Bank of Punjab | 9,261,000 |
| TRG Pakistan | 9,038,000 |
| Sui Northern Gas Pipelines | 8,870,500 |
| Lotte Chemical Pakistan | 8,779,000 |
| Sector | Volume |
|---|---|
| Cement | 70,599,000 |
| Vanaspati & Allied Industries | 53,509,500 |
| Technology & Communication | 35,323,000 |
| Commercial Banks | 33,690,000 |
| Power Generation & Distribution | 29,698,500 |
| Chemical | 25,040,550 |
| Engineering | 24,686,300 |
| Food & Personal Care Products | 21,873,540 |
| Oil & Gas Marketing Companies | 17,108,900 |
| Refinery | 15,828,000 |
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OGRA lowers RLNG price by $0.11 per mmbtu
December 06, 2019 (MLN): The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has notified revised prices of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) for the current month.
According to the notification, there is $0.1151 per mmbtu (Million British Thermal Unit) decrease in sale price of imported RLNG on the system of Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Company (SSGC) for the month of November as compared to the last month. The new price of the RLNG for SSGC system has been fixed at $ 10.8234 per mmbtu.
Similarly, there is $0.1111 per mmbtu decline in sale price of imported RLNG on the system of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Company Limited (SNGPL) for the current month as compared to October, 2019. The new price of the LNG for SNGPL system has been fixed at $ 10.8349 per mmbtu.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Central Government Debt declines by 3.16% MoM in October
December 6, 2019 (MLN): The total debt of the Pakistan government declined by 3.16% to Rs.32.19 trillion in October 2019 when compared to Rs 33.24 trillion in September 2019.
However, the total debt figure increased by Rs.6.3 trillion over the corresponding period from last year, signifying a growth of 24.60%, as per data released by State Bank of Pakistan.
The long-term debt, which mainly comprises of permanent debt, unfunded debt and foreign currency loans, surged by 1.68% MoM. On the other hand, the short term debt, which includes floating debt, declined by 21.20% MoM.
On a monthly basis, the biggest decrease in debt was noted through Treasury Bills under the short term debt by 23.22%.
Furthermore, the external debt of the government increased by 0.58% MoM and 22.81% YoY.
Copyright Mettis Link News
SCRA position improves by Rs.1.375 Billion
December 06, 2019 (MLN): Foreign investors continued to be net buyers for the seventh successive week as the total purchase of securities during the week via Special Convertible Rupee Account (SCRA) outstripped total sale by around Rs. 7.04 billion as on November 29, 2019.
According to a weekly report on Specially Convertible Rupee Accounts (SCRA) released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the gross sale of securities during the week was recorded at Rs.18.8 billion, which is around 64.2 percent lower than the figures recorded last week. Similarly, the total purchase of securities stood at Rs.25.8 billion, which is 74.8 percent lower than the prior week.
Consequently, the net purchase of securities for the week ended November 29, 2019 clocked in at Rs.7.04 billion, i.e. around Rs.42.81 billion lower than last week's numbers.
Over the week, the overall purchase of securities declined by Rs.76.4 billion while the net sale of securities tumbled by Rs.33.59 billion.
Apart from this, the inflow of remittance into these accounts stood at Rs.10.89 billion, while its outflow has been reported at Rs.3.8 billion.
The closing balance of SCRA was recorded at Rs.29.83 billion, which marks a rise of Rs.1.38 billion over the week.
Copyright Mettis Link News
PKR appreciates by 17 paisa over the week
December 06, 2019 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) closed today's trading session relatively unchanged against the USD with the rate remaing stable at PKR 155.07
The rupee endured a relatively dull trading session with very little intraday movement, trading in a range of 4 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 155.10 and an intraday Low offer of 155.08.
During the week, the currency has gained 17 paisa against the greenback, as the previous week was concluded at PKR 155.24 per USD.
Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 154.50/155.30 per USD.
Meanwhile, the currency gained 6 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 203.55 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 203.61 per GBP.
On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 15 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 172.17 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs.300 billion for 7 days at 13.3 percent.
The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 13.30/13.50 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 13.25/13.30 percent.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Govt facilitates the construction sector by lowering capital value tax rate: Dr Firdous
December 6, 2019 (MLN): Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Friday that more facilities are being provided to the construction sector. In addition to lowering the capital value tax rate, the issuance of e-statement paper is also being implemented.
In a series of tweets, she said permission letters and no-objection certificates are being reduced which would help promote the construction sector and create job opportunities for the people related to this field.
In the line of these tweets, she said the Prime Minister is committed to building houses for the poor segments of the society under the Pakistan Housing Scheme Programme.
She said that implementation of fixed tax at the stage of the sale of the houses and exemption of taxes on construction material at the time of construction would prove a milestone in the promotion of the construction sector.
She said that time is not far off when the poor segments of the society would get their own houses as the hurdles in the construction of houses are being removed.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Manpower export to Saudi Arabia registers marked increase of 207%
December 06, 2019: The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, during first 10 months of the year 2019, has assisted over 258,215 Pakistanis to proceed Saudi Arabia for prospective job opportunities in various sectors.
According to the data compiled by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, the manpower export to Saudi Arabia had registered a marked increase of over 207 per cent this year as compared to corresponding year of the last year when 84,091 went there.
However, some 176,947 Pakistanis went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for different jobs, exhibiting a nominal growth of only 1.7 percent.
The number of Pakistani emigrants to Oman had also increased by 5.8 per cent as 23,998 Pakistanis proceeded to the said country during the 10-month period compared to 22,668 in the corresponding period of 2018.
An official source in the Ministry told APP that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari had held consultations with relevant authorities in multiple states to augment the number of Pakistani workforce abroad.
He said Zulfi Bukhari had formally requested Saudi authorities to enhance the Pakistani manpower in multi-billion dollars’ project of New Taif City of the Kingdom.
He said Saudi Arabia had also extended an offer for Pakistani manpower’s export through ‘Musaned’- a digital platform launched by the Kingdom to facilitate labour recruitment process and ensure their rights protection.
The process would take some months and after that the Pakistani workforce would be sent to Saudi Arabia through that platform, he added.
The official said the ministry was also in process of linking up its digital portal with the UAE to set up direct link between its intending emigrants and foreign employers.
The initiative would eventually minimize the middle-man’s role in recruitment process and help the country to train its workforce as per the international markets’ demand.
He said the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation had offered its labour market’s database access to Pakistan which would provide up-dated information of job opportunities in the Emirates.
Sharing details of the recent visit of Zulfi Bukhari to Qatar, he said the SAPM had held a fruitful meeting with Qatar’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Yousaf Mohamed-Al-Othman Fakhroo and highlighted the potential of the Pakistani workforce.
Zulfi Bukhari also urged the Qatari minister to expedite the public sector recruitment in the health and energy sectors.
During the meeting, the SAPM also emphasized the need for digital connectivity between the two ministries, which would make the recruitment mechanism more efficient.
APP
