The departed week remained satisfactory from an economic perspective, the factors responsible for which over the week included
• The government released Rs 240.890 million for various developmental projects of Ministry of Industries and Production under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2018-19 for the promotion of the sector in the country.
• The loan and grant agreement of worth $284 million has been signed between Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government to improve Pakistan’s power transmission network.
• WAPDA and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed Project Implementation Letter (PIL) – 2 worth $78 million for Mangla Refurbishment Project to enhance generation capacity of the existing Mangla Hydel Power Station from 1000 megawatt (MW) to 1310 MW.
• The government of Pakistan announced to sale Islamic or sukkuk energy bonds amounting to Rs.600 billion, having 10 years maturity period, clubbed with six months’ KIBOR plus one percent, next year.
°Saudi Arabia transferred the second tranche of its bailout package for Pakistan, a sum of $1 billion.
°The Supreme Court of Pakistan removed the ban on construction of high-rise buildings with more than six storeys in Karachi. As an aftermath of the decision, demand for commodities associated with the construction industry, such as cement and steel rose.
°Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) halted gas supply to general businesses except zero rated industries.
Apart from this, a number of data releases this week familiarized the masses with stats to base the country's performance in November on.
Balance of Trade in November 2018 improved by 5.3% over previous month, whereas year-on-year improvement was marked at a margin of 0.25%.
Trade deficit during the month came down to $2.78 billion, down from $2.94 billion in October and $2.79 billion in November 2017.
Meanwhile, total worker’s remittance for November 2018 ($1.6 billion) increased by 2% over the year, whereas during the November of FY18 ($1.58 billion), the sum had dropped by the almost same margin, YoY. However, compared to previous month’s remittance ($2 billion), the sum dropped by 20%.
On the other hand, figures published by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturer's Association (PAMA) divulged that in November 2018, 15,334 units of passenger cars were sold. Compared to prior month, the sales dropped by 28%, whereas in a year on year scenario the sales figure dropped by 11%.
In addition to this, net sale of securities via SCRA during the week ended December 7 was recorded at Rs.5.4 billion versus a net sale of Rs.2.5 billion recorded the week earlier.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 13,753.90 million on Dec 07, 2018.
Moreover, according to data released by the Pakistan bureau of statistics, the weekly SPI index for the combined group decreased by 0.05 percent compared to previous week (Dec 06, 2018), however it increased by 5.40 percent compared to the corresponding period from last year (Dec 14, 2017).
Finally, taking a look a the gold market, we see that Gold prices continued to remain steady throughout the week, supported by anticipations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could pause its rate hike cycle sooner than previously thought. However, a stronger dollar amidst Brexit worries agitated the precious metal.
Gold prices finally plunged on Thursday as the dollar strengthened, while palladium rose to a record high, trading at a premium to gold. Nevertheless, the metal was on track to mark its biggest weekly decline in five weeks, as a steadier dollar weighed on the sentiment.
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