March 24, 2020 (MLN): Sazgar Engineering Works Limited has shut down its plant till further notice. operations including factory as well as showrooms till further notice.
The decision came in accordance with the directive of provincial governments to curtail the spread of COVID-19 across provinces.
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December 8, 2021 (MLN): Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has been credited with 3,900,000 ordinary shares of Rs10 per share of EClear Services Limited (EClear) against the remaining investment of Rs39 million in EClear, said a notification issued by PSX today.
The aforesaid amount is the part of an investment worth Rs75mn in the proposed venture being sponsored by Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited which was approved on December 23, 2020.
Later, on June 15, 2021, 3,600,000 ordinary shares of Rs10 each had been credited to the exchange upon the initial investment of Rs36mn.
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December 8, 2021 (MLN): The Board of Directors of the MCB Bank Limited (PSX: MCB) has approved the appointment of Mr. Shoaib Mumtaz as Acting President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the bank effective from December 21, 2021, the company filing on PSX showed on Wednesday.
To note, the existing term of three years of Mr. Imran Maqbool, as President & CEO of MCB will expire on December 20, 2021.
The board has also placed on record its appreciation for the valuable contribution and the services rendered by the outgoing President & CEO, Mr. Maqbool on completion of his term on December 20, 2021, the notification added.
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December 08, 2021: Europe's top stock markets steadied at the open on Wednesday after surging the previous session on easing concerns over financial fallout from coronavirus variant Omicron, as APP reported.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.2 percent to 7,350.56 points.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX index lost 0.2 percent to 15,781.87 points while the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent to 7,077.66.
Frankfurt and Paris closed up nearly three percent on Tuesday.
AFP/APP
December 8, 2021 (MLN): Fitch Ratings, in its latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO), has lowered its global growth forecast to 5.7%, down by 0.3 ppts amid growing inflation concerns and its impact on monetary policy.
In a research note published yesterday, the rating agency has said the scale and longevity of the global inflation shock have taken most forecasters and central banks by surprise and is bringing forward the start of global monetary policy normalization.
“A strong recovery in global aggregate demand in nominal terms over the past year has not been matched by an equal recovery in output. Supply bottlenecks resulted in real GDP expanding by less than expected in 3Q21, with prices increasing by more than anticipated,” the report said.
Fitch has also cut its 2021 growth forecasts for the US, Germany and Japan, reflecting recent supply-chain-related disruptions to industrial production.
Despite the downgrade, Fitch said that 5.7% is still the fastest rate since 1973. “We are far from stagflation,” the report underlined.
The rating agency also trimmed the world growth forecast for 2022 to 4.2% from 4.4%, adding that this primarily reflects a more intense slowdown in China. Fitch expects China’s growth to fall to 4.8% in 2022 from 8.0% in 2021.
Fitch has revised US growth in 2021 to 5.7% (from 6.2% in the September GEO) and cut 2022 growth to 3.7% (from 3.9%). It also lowered the eurozone growth forecast for 2021 to 5.0% (from 5.2%), but the forecast for 2022 is unchanged at 4.5%.
Growth in emerging markets excluding China is forecast at 5.7% in 2021 and 4.6% in 2022, both 0.1pp lower than in September, partly reflecting a sharp deterioration in Brazil’s economic outlook, Fitch said.
“There are now signs that price level shocks related to pandemic shortages are starting to morph into ongoing inflation. With monetary policy settings still super-loose, this is worrying central bankers,” said Brian Coulton, Chief Economist with Fitch.
According to the rating agency, the sharp rise in global consumer goods prices since March primarily reflects a surge in goods demand, fueled by stimulus measures, particularly in the US. Goods prices should stabilize in 2022 as spending switches back to services, strong investment boosts goods supply, and fiscal stimulus unwinds.
But there have been widespread upward revisions to inflation forecasts and the increasing prospect of inflation pressures broadening is making central banks nervous, Fitch said, adding that US core CPI inflation is expected to settle at around 3% in late 2022 and 2023, significantly higher than pre-pandemic rates.
Consequently, Fitch now expects Fed to raise interest rates in September 2022 and the Bank of England (BOE) later this month, “both far sooner than we had expected,” it added.
High inflation is raising policy tensions. The Omicron Covid-19 variant of concern represents a downside risk to growth but could adversely affect supply leading to further price increases, implying risks if central banks delay normalization, Fitch noted.
The rating agency further noted that a stronger dollar and weaker Chinese growth could weigh on commodity prices in 2022, adding to constraints on emerging-market growth, including from domestic monetary-policy tightening.
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December 08, 2021: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday approved an amount of $603 million results-based lending program to strengthen and expand social protection programs (SPP) in Pakistan, as reported by APP.
Using conditional cash transfers, the program will support the implementation of Ehsaas, Pakistan’s national social protection and poverty reduction strategy, according to an ADB statement received here Wednesday.
Under the Integrated Social Protection Development Program, ADB would provide a regular loan of $600mn and a $3mn grant from the Asian Development Fund, and would administer a US $ 24 million grant from the Education Above All Foundation.
“The program marks a significant shift in ADB’s strategic engagement in the social protection space in Pakistan in line with Ehsaas priorities,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.
“ADB’s support will transition from unconditional cash transfers that provide income support to a mixed-modality approach that focuses more on conditional cash transfers for education, health services, and nutritional supplies that will help reduce intergenerational poverty through human capital development,” Zhukov added.
The program supports the Ehsaas goal of expanding cash transfers to improve access to primary and secondary education up to grade 10 for children and adolescents of poor families, especially girls, and enhancing health services and nutrition for women, adolescent girls, and poor children.
It also aims to initiate coverage of accelerated learning programs at primary education level for overaged out-of-school children under conditional cash transfers.
In addition, the program supports improvements in implementation and fiduciary capacity for Pakistan’s SPPs.
This will build on previous ADB support to further improve grievance redress, risk management, financial management, procurement, monitoring and evaluation, and management information systems—functions which help to strengthen internal controls.
Pakistan is prone to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards, including floods, heat waves, and droughts which have a disproportionate impact on the poor and vulnerable.
By leveraging Asian Development Fund resources for climate adaptation, the program will help identify and integrate appropriate climate resilience measures, such as vulnerability mapping and early warning systems.
“ADB is a trusted and longstanding partner. This program is the result of years of engagement with ADB and other partners and focuses on areas where we believe the bank can have most impact. It is a key priority under the government’s Ehsaas strategy,” the press statement quoted Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar as having said.
“This program incentivizes parents to send their children to schools, particularly girls, and will help to provide specialized nutritious food and conditional cash transfers to children and mothers in the districts of Pakistan that most need it,” she added.
Pakistan is a founding member of ADB. Since 1966, ADB has committed more than US $ 36 billion to promote inclusive economic growth and improve the country’s infrastructure, energy and food security, transport networks, and urban and social services.
APP
