Tag: COMMODITIES

Jul 18: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi Thursday called upon the business community that besides refraining from business in smuggled goods, they should not indulge in under-invoicing or other mis-declarations when getting their imported goods cleared at the ports.

The importers, their clearing agents and the delinquent staff, if found involved in such practices, would shall be liable to punitive action under the law. The chairman has further urged the traders to refrain from dealing in smuggled goods and has categorically stated that whosoever found involved in any way dealing with sale, purchase or storage of the same would be dealt strictly.

The country was facing problem of securing its economic borders as rampant smuggling not only entails huge revenue losses but also adversely impacts existing industry and future investment.

The prime minister has taken a very serious notice of the situation and has ordered a number of measures to cleanse the society from the menace of smuggling, he added.

The chairman said Pakistan Customs, being the country’s leading anti-smuggling organization, has accordingly stepped up enforcement actions in coordination with other law enforcement agencies to make an example of all such notorious elements engaged in smuggling.

APP

Jul 18, 2019 (MLN): Pakistan's Forex Reserves increased by USD 989.90 Million or 6.94% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 15,249.20 Million on Jul 12, 2019.

During the outgoing week, SBP received the first tranche of USD 991.4 million from IMF. After taking into account outflows relating to external debt and other official payments, SBP reserves increased by USD918 million.

Amount in USD Million

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Jul 18, 2019 (MNL): The equity market participants pulled off an extensive sell-off on trading floors today, causing the benchmark KSE – 100 index to lose 672 points and conclude the session at 32,309 points.

Political instability due to NAB’s actions against leading political leaders over corruption, as well as monetary tightening by SBP formed a gloomy cloud over the market which casted a shadow over the index all day long.

This is the lowest the index has fallen in the last three years. The last time KSE -100 index fell below this level was in March 2016 when it closed a session at 32,147 points.

The Index traded in a range of 788.64 points or 2.39 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 33,014.74 and a low of 32,226.10.

Of the 91 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 5 closed up 82 closed down, while 4 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 71.67 million shares.

Sector wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 115 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 101 points, Fertilizer with 97 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 58 points and Cement with 46 points.

The most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 71 points followed by PPL with 64 points, HBL with 52 points, OGDC with 38 points and HUBC with 24 points.

Meanwhile, the KSE All Share Volume decreased by 24.15 Million to 87.41 Million Shares while Market Cap decreased by Rs.126.92 Billion.

Total companies traded were 320 compared to 308 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 29 closed up, 275 closed down while 16 remained unchanged.

Total trades decreased by 12,396 to 31,506 whereas Value Traded increased by 0.05 Billion to Rs.3.76 Billion

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July 18, 2019: Japanese Ambassador, Kuninori Matsuda called on the Minister for Economic Affairs Muhammad Hammad Azhar in Islamabad on Thursday and assured of full support going forward.     

The Minster briefed the Ambassador on the key priorities of the government and structural reforms agenda that is being executed to revive the economy.     

The Ambassador reiterated commitment of his country to strengthen economic cooperation to support implementation of government’s reform agenda. He expressed intention of his country to provide financial support for implementation of high value flagship projects.

The Minister thanked the Japanese Ambassador for his support and reiterated full support of the Government of Pakistan for the potential Japanese investors to facilitate their investment in Pakistan.

Jul 18, 2019: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Hammad Azhar Thursday urged the Asia Development Bank (ADB) to scale up its lending to Pakistan including programme lending and project financing.

He was talking to ADB Country Director, Ms. Xiaohong Yang who called on the minister here, according to press statement issued by the Ministry.

The Minister acknowledged the ADB’s support for Pakistan and discussed key priority areas and new avenues for future interventions.

The Minister reiterated that the government was keen to explore innovative financing models and mobilize investment in infrastructure and social sectors. These initiatives will not only provide fiscal space to the government but also help boost economic activities in the country, he added.

On the occasion, Yang congratulated Azhar on his appointment as Federal Minister.

Yang said that ADB and Pakistan had successfully met many development challenges and assured the Minister of the Bank’s support in the priority sectors as identified by the present government.

Yang also briefed the Minister on ADB’s ongoing interventions and pipeline projects and updated him about the bank’s Programme Lending and Special Policy-Based Loan including Trade and Competitiveness Programme, Energy Sector Resilience Programme and Capital Market Reforms Programme.

ADB was committed to expanding this partnership to increase prosperity of the people of Pakistan, she added.

The Country Director thanked the Minister and reiterated ADB’s commitment to further strengthen and expand its partnership with Pakistan.

APP