May 27, 2022 (MLN): Moving one step closer to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities for the seventh review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the Pakistan Stock exchange opened higher on Friday with the KSE-100 Index adding 754 points so far in early trade [9:36 PST] and is currently trading at 43,295.72 level.
As per the announcement made by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, the new price of petrol and High-Speed Diesel (HSD) stand at Rs179.86 and Rs 74.15 per litre respectively, while Kerosine oil and Light Diesel (LDO) cost around Rs155.56 and Rs148.31 per litre respectively.
Earlier, the Finance Minister said that the IMF team emphasized the importance of rolling back fuel and power subsidies, which were given by the previous administration in contravention of its own agreement with the Fund. The incumbent govt is committed to reviving the IMF programme and putting Pakistan back on a sustainable growth path.
Subsequently, the IMF tranche worth over $900m is likely to be finalized after the talks in Doha on the resumption of EFF program, according to Ismail Iqbal Securities' morning research note.
The govt is planning to impose a levy/additional income tax on pharmaceuticals, steel and other sectors that made windfall profits, it cited.
So far, Technology & Communication has captured the maximum gained, as it has contributed around 130 points to the benchmark index, followed by Commercial Banks with 109 points.
Company-wise, the scrips of SYS, FFC, TRG, LUCK and UBL have gathered the maximum points.
