March 11, 2022: President Dr Arif Alvi has underscored the need for facilitating foreign investors to invest in the country’s ICT sector which had a huge potential to grow in view of the incentives being provided by the government, said a press release issued on Friday.
He encouraged the relevant stakeholders to facilitate Pakistan origin IT experts, based in Silicon Valley, USA, who wanted to establish IT companies in Pakistan. The President made these remarks while chairing a meeting on engaging Pakistani American Diaspora in the ICT sector, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The participants of the meeting were briefed about the progress on the development of the Pakistan National Semiconductor Plan (PNSP). It was informed that measures had been taken to train human resources in the field of semiconductors which has great scope and potential for growth and investment.
The participants were also briefed on the electric vehicle batteries manufacturing project, the establishment of Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly Test (OSAT) and related industries.
Addressing the meeting, the President highlighted that the IT industry is growing exponentially and Pakistan needed to focus on training and skill development of its human resources in the ICT sector to meet the requirements of the 4th Industrial Revolution as well as earn foreign exchange.
He also underlined the need to take measures for attracting Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds that would help accelerate the economic development of the country. The President assured the USA based IT experts of his cooperation in facilitating investments for the country’s ICT sector.
June 29, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan’s stock market remained in bearish spell today as investors preferred to remain sidelined amid lack of fresh triggers.
Initially, market opened on a positive note where the KSE100 index made an Intraday high at 41,814 but rumors regarding possible restriction on dividend payment of those banks which want to reclassify their PIB profile triggered selling spree in the banking sector stocks, resulted in intraday low at 41,119, a closing note by Topline Securities said.
However, some value hunting at the aforesaid low rescued the KSE100 Index and assisted it to eventually settled at 41,298 level, i.e., down by 468 points; or 1.12% DoD.
Of the 91 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 28 closed up 59 closed down, while 4 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 78.95 million shares.
Sector wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 272 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 59 points, Technology & Communication with 57 points, Cement with 23 points and Power Generation & Distribution with 18 points.
The most points taken off the index was by HBL which stripped the index of 90 points followed by MCB with 69 points, SYS with 45 points, BAHL with 42 points and MARI with 23 points.
Sectors propping up the index were Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 10 points, Tobacco with 5 points, Real Estate Investment Trust with 1 points, Engineering with 1 points and Textile Composite with 1 points.
The most points added to the index was by COLG which contributed 9 points followed by EFERT with 7 points, SNGP with 6 points, JVDC with 6 points and PAKT with 5 points.
All Share Volume decreased by 114.97 Million to 142.19 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.53.48 Billion.
Total companies traded were 316 compared to 331 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 124 closed up, 168 closed down while 24 remained unchanged.
Total trades decreased by 16,474 to 82,123.
Value Traded decreased by 2.36 Billion to Rs.5.35 Billion
June 29, 2022: The State Bank of Pakistan will remain closed for public dealing on Friday, July 1, 2022 which shall be observed as Bank Holiday enabling the Bank to close its accounts.
“All banks / DFIs / MFBs shall, therefore, remain closed for public dealing on the aforementioned date. However, employees of the banks / DFIs / MFBs will attend the office as usual”, SBP said in a statement issued today.
June 29, 2022: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail here on Wednesday said the government was taking all required measures for enhancing the ease of doing business and providing export friendly environment to the business community.
The minister was talking to the delegation of Pakistan Gems Jewellery Traders and Exporters Association (PGTEA) headed by its Senior Vice Chairman, Fayyaz Qureshi.
Chairman PGTEA, Akhtar Khan Tessori also joined the meeting virtually, according to press statement issued by the Finance Ministry.
The delegation members thanked the minister for addressing their concerns related to taxation and appreciated the role of present government in facilitating the gems and jewellery sector.
The meeting also discussed some policy measures for enhancing the exports of gems and jewellery, the statement added.
June 29, 2022: National Assembly on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill-2022 after clause by clause consideration and adopting certain amendments in it.
Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha moved the motion for consideration of the Finance Bill, 2022 to give effect to the financial proposals of the federal government for the year beginning on July 1, 2022.
The motion was passed with majority vote which led to the passage of Finance Bill-2022 after clause by clause reading and adopting amendments after due process of voting.
All amendments moved by the Minister of State for Finance and treasury lawmakers were adopted by the House while the amendments of opposition members including Javaria Zafar Aheer (PTI), Wajiha Qamar (PTI), Ramesh Kumar (PTI), Saira Bano (GDA), Maulana Abul Akbar Chitrali (MMAP) and an Independent MNA Mohsin Dawar were rejected by the House after voting.
According to the Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly 2007, not less than four days shall be allotted for the general discussion on the budget. However, the National Assembly smoothly continued debate on the Finance Bill, 2022 for 10 days.
The formal debate started on June 13, 2022 that continued till June 24, 2022. The House also discussed recommendations of the Senate and three MNAs expressed their views on it.
Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail had concluded debate on Finance Bill on June 24, 2022. The House held discussion on the Charged Expenditure included in Demands for Grants and Appropriations for the financial year ending on June 30, 2023. The House approved 131 demands for grants related to various departments and ministries.
The total volume of the federal budget for fiscal year 2022-23 is Rs9.5 trillion with allocation of Rs 2,158 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) which is one per cent up from Rs 2,135 billion last year.
The Ministry of Finance has termed the budget 2022-23 as growth budget and it is based on a well-thought-out strategy to boost the economic growth outlined in the medium-term budgetary strategy paper for FY23 to FY25. It gives a clear roadmap of the strategic priorities, revenue and spending policies of the government.
During the debate on the Finance Bill, Aisha Ghaus Pasha said there had been no pressure from International Monetary Fund (IMF) to integrate amendments in the federal budget 2022-23 saying that the changes had been made in larger interest of the country.
The amendments were made in such a way that the common man should not be affected, she said adding that the government had reduced taxes on the people having small incomes while increased tax on the higher income people.
She said the previous government agreed on some amendments with IMF that were being followed due to commitment of the State with the international monetary institution.
She said that super tax was being levied on the rich industrialists while small income segments had been given relief.
June 29, 2022 (MLN): Riding on the upward trail, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has appreciated by 1.8 rupees against the US dollar in today's interbank session as the currency settled the trade at PKR 205.12 compared to the previous closing of 206.87 per USD.
During the session, the rupee traded in a range of 1.3 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 205.60 and an intraday low offer of 204.80 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 203.50/205.50 per USD.
The positive sentiments stemmed in the market after Pakistan received the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) wherein the fund set four tough conditions to revive stalled $6 billion loan program.
This includes an increase in electricity tariffs, imposing a levy on petroleum products, ending the government’s role in determining the oil prices, and setting up an anti-corruption task force to review all the existing laws that were aimed at curbing graft in the government departments.
After implementing the conditions, the IMF would present Pakistan’s request for the approval of the loan tranche and revival of the program to its executive board – a process that may consume another month, the sources said, quoted Tribune.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill-2022 after clause-by-clause consideration and adopting certain amendments in it.
Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha moved the motion for consideration of the Finance Bill, 2022 to give effect to the financial proposals of the federal government for the year beginning on July 1, 2022.
During the debate on the Finance Bill, Aisha Ghaus Pasha said there had been no pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to integrate amendments in the federal budget 2022-23 saying that the changes had been made in the larger interest of the country, reported by APP.
The amendments were made in such a way that the common man should not be affected, she said adding that the government had reduced taxes on the people having small incomes while increasing tax on the higher-income people.
From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs48.57 against the USD. Similarly, the rupee fell by Rs28.6 in CY21, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 3.24%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.
During the last 52 weeks, PKR lost 23.19% against the greenback while reaching its lowest at 211.93 on June 22, 2022, and the highest of 157.54 on June 30, 2021.
Furthermore, the local unit has weakened by 13.38% since its high on July 02, 2021, against EUR while, it has dropped by 13.10% against GBP since its high on July 02, 2021.
The performance of the local unit remained bleak against other major currencies in one month as the currency weakened by 2.95%, 2.94%, 2.92%, 2.21%, and 0.77% against AED, CHF, SAR, CNY, and EUR, respectively. on the other hand, the domestic unit appreciated by 3.79% and 0.53% against JPY and GBP, respectively.
The currency gained 4 rupees against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 250.04 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 253.99 per GBP.
Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 3.4 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 215.64 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 12.75/12.80 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 12.95/13.05 percent.
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