July 01, 2020 (MLN): Fauji Food Limited has appointed Mr. Muhammad Haseeb Aslam as Chief Executive Officer with effect from July 01, 2020, in place of Mr. Sarfaraz Ahmed Rehman.
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August 7, 2020 (MLN): Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Pakistan later this year, as reported by Bloomberg.
At the webinar in Islamabad, China’s ambassador Yao Jing said “We are talking about” extending the flagship Belt and Road program to Afghanistan, Bloomberg reported.
To recall, Xi’s visit in 2015 spurred Belt and Road projects in Pakistan known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) valued at more than $70 billion.
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Aug 07, 2020: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved locust Emergency and Food Security Projects (LEAFS) for uplift of local agriculture sector and combating the locust threat in the country.
The project is the first federal agricultural project, which financed by the World Bank in Pakistan, said a press release issued by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research here Friday.
It said that MinNFS&R is responsible for overall project implementation with the support of provincial governments, Department of Plant Protection, National Locust Control Centre, Food and Agriculture Organization and National Disaster Management Authority.
The project cost envelope is US$200 million equal to Rs32,800 million, it added.
LEAFS project will span out its activities all over the Pakistan focusing migratory, breeding and infestation routes of desert locust, besides it also encompasses capacity building of Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and includes compensation to farmers on account of losses due to locust.
It also includes livestock support program to mitigate negative impacts of desert locust on the livelihood protection and rehabilitation., besides strengthening and establishment of food security and nutrition information system is a major component of the project.
The specific project objectives will be embarked on control of the locust outbreak, to mitigate negative social and economic impact associated with locust attack and to strengthen the national food security system.
The MinNFS&R has overall coordination role of the project implementation through establishing a Federal Project Steering Committee (FPSC), responsible for approval of annual work plans, monitor and review of financial reporting, third party validation in the project and re-allocation of funds.
A project management Unit (PMU) under direct supervision of Secretary NinNFSR with an independent National Project Director with support of needed staff is proposed.
The FAO being technical agency and having the role of global management of locust will provide technical support and assistance to all partners including provincial governments and DPP, strengthening of FSNIS and early warning systems, international and regional coordination, regional locust surveillance and procurement support. The World Bank team will be responsible for effective implementation and monitoring support to the project.
Department of Plant Protection (DPP) is responsible entity mandated to manage the locust outbreak in the country.
In that role DPP will make national locust surveillance and pest management plan, threat assessment, monitoring of locust population, breeding and swarms, strategic coordination and control operations based on locust cycle (desert, cropping areas, cities).
The provincial governments will lead project implementation in the affected areas and agriculture departments will set up Provincial Project Implementation Units under direct supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture.
The NDMA and the PDMAs will support logistics, contingency planning, crisis preparedness and response, at federal and provincial level.
NDMA’s involvement to the project will be triggered only when the locust crisis grows beyond DPP’s control.
The financial benefits of the project are primarily a reduction in Damages and Losses (DALO) due to the locust outbreak.
APP
Aug 07, 2020 (MNL): The KSE-100 index ended the trading session on Friday with a 136.43 point or 0.34 percent decline to close at 40,029.69, as investors resorted to profit-taking after enjoying a week full of boons.
The overall gains during the week amounted to 771 points, i.e. 1.96% higher than the previous week.
The Index traded in a range of 505.17 points or 1.26 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 40,467.09 and a low of 39,961.92.
Of the 94 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 40 closed up 53 closed down, while 1 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 368.85 million shares.
Sector wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 68 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 43 points, Cement with 30 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 30 points and Fertilizer with 21 points.
The most points taken off the index was by UBL which stripped the index of 40 points followed by HBL with 33 points, HUBC with 26 points, MCB with 17 points and POL with 15 points.
Sectors propping up the index were Textile Composite with 23 points, Transport with 16 points, Insurance with 15 points, Engineering with 9 points and Cable & Electrical Goods with 7 points.
The most points added to the index was by MEBL which contributed 21 points followed by PIBTL with 16 points, KTML with 15 points, IGIHL with 13 points and PSMC with 9 points.
All Share Volume decreased by 98.04 Million to 728.77 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.8.14 Billion.
Total companies traded were 402 compared to 415 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 197 closed up, 188 closed down while 17 remained unchanged.
Total trades decreased by 10,365 to 185,126.
Value Traded decreased by 1.34 Billion to Rs.23.01 Billion
| Company | Volume |
|---|---|
| Worldcall Telecom | 144,414,000 |
| Pakistan International Bulk Terminal | 52,630,500 |
| Unity Foods | 50,407,000 |
| Pak Elektron | 37,525,000 |
| TRG Pakistan | 36,183,000 |
| Maple Leaf Cement Factory | 23,547,000 |
| Power Cement | 23,248,500 |
| Aisha Steel Mills | 18,025,000 |
| Fauji Foods | 17,164,000 |
| Hascol Petroleum | 16,248,500 |
| Sector | Volume |
|---|---|
| Technology & Communication | 210,762,500 |
| Cement | 75,304,751 |
| Engineering | 60,603,800 |
| Transport | 53,931,500 |
| Vanaspati & Allied Industries | 50,411,300 |
| Commercial Banks | 41,089,575 |
| Cable & Electrical Goods | 40,177,700 |
| Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. | 28,356,600 |
| Food & Personal Care Products | 28,267,960 |
| Oil & Gas Marketing Companies | 22,992,006 |
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August 7, 2020 (MLN): The yellow metal extended its record-breaking run, driven by expectations of more stimulus measures to counteract the economic disruption caused by coronavirus pandemic. In the international market, the gold prices edged higher to $2,054 per ounce.
So far, safe-haven gold has rallied more than 35% this year.
The other precious metal, silver also surged to $28.18 an ounce.
On the domestic front, gold prices shot up by Rs 2,500 to an all-time high of Rs 132,000 per tola on Friday as investors continued to flock on the safe-haven asset. The valuable yellow metal had closed at Rs 129,500 per tola on the previous day.
The price of 10-gram gold also continued its rally and settled at Rs 113,169 against the previous close of Rs 111,025 per 10-gram.
On a similar note, the 24 Karat- Silver inched up by Rs 60 to clock in at Rs 1,710 per tola. Moreover, 10-gram silver witnessed an increase of Rs 51.44 to close at Rs 1,466.04, as per the Karachi Sarafa Association.
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August 7, 2020 (MLN): The outcome of MSCI August Quarterly Index Review are slated to be announced on August 12, 2020, which according to research by Topline Securities, shall depict no addition or deletion of constituents in MSCI Pakistan Index.
However, with regards to MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, the brokerage house expects Habib Bank, i.e. one of the three existing constituents, to be included and Packages Limited to be deleted.
Furthermore, the weight of Pakistan is likely to hover around 0.02% mark.
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