According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan, the Real Effective Exchange Rate Index in March 2018 stood at 111.72 compared to 113.31 in Feb 2018.
The SBP allowed the currency to depreciate twice within the space of 6 months due to growing trade and current account deficit and concern by international lenders of PKR being overvalued.
Since December 2017, PKR has depreciated by 9.54 percent.
July 6, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan Post is all set to be made into Pakistan Post Bank to help record all cash transactions through Post office, now that all the working paper has been prepared.
The aforesaid decision transpired after the Asia Pacific raised flag on functioning of Pakistan Post operations, stating that the transaction of cash through Pakistan Office appeared to be less documented.
Hence, the creation of Pakistan Post Bank is expected to accelerate pace of remittances and track all cash transactions.
Pakistan Post Office currently has 10,500 branches, out of which 2,400 Pakistan Post Branches have not been reached by any bank so far.
Moreover, Pakistan Post Office has around 2.1 million users and 38 million account holders in Pakistan as of now. With the creation of Pakistan Post Bank, the number of users is likely to increase to 65 million by 2023.
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July 6, 2020 (MLN): Dawood Equities Limited has started trading activities in commodities through Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited and now become operational to undertake Future Broker Activity, the company announced on Monday.
Earlier in April, the company had received license from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to undertake Future Broker Activity.
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July 6, 2020: Pakistan and China will sign an agreement on Monday for construction of Azad Pattan Hydel Power Project.
In a tweet on Monday, Chairman CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa said Prime Minister Imran Khan will grace the occasion.
He said this project, another milestone under the CPEC, envisages an investment of 1.5 billion dollars.
Radio Pakistan
July 6, 2020 (MLN): Moody's Investors Service says that non-investment grade emerging and frontier market sovereigns face a sharp economic downturn following the coronavirus outbreak, with many not recovering to pre-crisis levels until 2022 or beyond.
Reflecting these challenges, Moody's has so far this year taken rating action on 50 non-investment grade sovereigns, 29 of which have been principally motivated by the coronavirus outbreak.
Moody's conclusions are summarized in the second edition of a bi-annual chartbook that highlights key rating trends for non-investment grade sovereigns across the globe.
"Globally, debt-to-GDP ratios will jump, often from already elevated levels, and we expect they will continue to rise over the coming years, raising fiscal challenges," says Michael Higgins, a Moody's Analyst.
"The coronavirus shock is precipitating a significant increase in external vulnerability and government liquidity risks among non-investment grade sovereigns, while political tensions remain present, especially as the pandemic heightens focus on many social risks," adds Higgins.
All non-investment grade emerging and frontier market sovereigns will experience slower growth on account of the global coronavirus shock, with 2020 growth forecasts revised down by 6.8 percentage points on average from the end of 2019.
In 2021, Moody's expects economic recoveries to vary widely, depending on policy measures governments implement, including their nature, magnitude and timeliness, as well as on the structure of the economy.
Specifically, services-dependent economies – especially those with high exposure to tourism – and commodity exporters will experience a slower rebound in activity.
As of the end of June 2020, Moody's rated 76 emerging and frontier markets at Ba1 below, an increase of three from December 2019, following the assignment of a B3 rating to Laos and the downgrade of South Africa and Bahamas into non-investment grade.
Moody’s
