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Apr 02, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 717.60 Million or 3.96% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 17,387.50 Million on Mar 27, 2020.

According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) its reserves decreased by USD 803.60 Million. This decline is attributed primarily to government external debt payments, that amounted to US$441 million, and other official payments.

However, reserves held by commercial banks increased by USD 86 million.

Amount in USD Million

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April 2, 2020 (MLN): The first day of the new month witnessed 21% decline in the outflow of hot money from government debt securities, as the foreign investors extracted $47.63 million from T-bills on April 1, 2020, compared to $59.96 million in the previous session.

Country- wise, the highest withdrawal during the said day was made my UK investors, as they retracted $35 million from T-bills, followed by US investors with the withdrawal of $10 million.

On the other hand, Pakistan equities witnessed an outflow of $5.8 million, taking the total net outflow within the local market to clock in at $52.17 million during the day mentioned above.

Cumulatively from July to date, foreign investors have so far withdrawn $2.16 billion from Pakistan debt market against the injection of $3.49 billion, indicating that still $1.33 billion investment still parked in T-bills and PIBs.

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April 02, 2020: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said Thursday that the government was taking all possible measures to save the people from negative effects of COVID-9 and cope with its negative impact on country’s economy.

Addressing the tax-refund cheque distribution ceremony here, the adviser said that the Rs1200 billion relief package, announced by the government, was particularly focused on achieving three objectives including the provision of security, food, and cash to deserving people to fulfill their requirements.

He said that the Prime Minister had already inaugurated the Rs150 billion program under which 12 million families across the country would be given cash, adding that each family would be given Rs12000.

He said that one-third population of the country would benefit from this initiative taken by the government in current hard times.

Secondly, the adviser added, the business community was also badly affected by this hostile situation and in order to facilitate this segment of society, the government had taken five big decisions.

The decisions including the provision of Rs200 billion to those employees who had been badly affected by the situation and were facing unemployment threats or other difficulties.

Secondly, he added, the government had announced Rs100 billion for SME sector employees and owners, saying that currently if they were facing issues in repaying principle amount or interests, they would be given relaxation.

Third, he added, Rs100 billion were being refunded to people, particularly businessmen and exporters. While the government had also set aside Rs100 billion to bear the effects of deferred payments of electricity and gas bills. He said, people do not need now to pay their bills immediately and they can differ it for three months keeping in view the current situation.

He said that Rs70 billion have been provided by the government to reduce the prices of petrol, diesel and other imported oil.

He said that the government had also exempted all food products from all types of duties and importantly, it would procure wheat of around Rs200 billion with main objective to ensure the farmers get money so that there was no contraction in the economy and the demand for agriculture products is increased.

Talking about the refunds, the adviser said that Rs100 were being refunded in four different ways, including Rs30 billion refunds of Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) through commerce ministry, through FASTER sales tax mechanism under which record refunds have been made to exporters and now Rs10 billion more were being provided under this mechanism.

Likewise, Rs52 billion would be paid as the sales tax refunds to non-exporters, whereas Rs15 billion were being provided in duty drawbacks. The adviser said that this brings the total to Rs107 billion, which is being provided to the business community.

The adviser said that the process of refunds would be completed within a week. He lauded the efforts of the government led by the Prime Minister, Imran Khan for paying all the sales tax refunds.

 “I want to say to PM that it is the contribution of your government that no sales tax refund would remain payable,” and termed it a historic measure taken by the government as there would be now no refunds which were verified and not paid.

He said that the federal government was in contact with businessmen and provincial governments so that the relief package money was being spent transparently and reaches to those who are affected by the COVID-9 hostile situation.

APP

April 02, 2020: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday directed the ministry concerned to accelerate reforms in the energy sector by removing the systemic hurdles and effectively utilizing the limited resources for ensuring relief to the common man.

                 The problems in the energy sector were directly related to the people’s lives, which necessitated their accelerated solution, he observed.

                The prime minister was chairing a meeting on the reforms process in the gas sector. Minister for Energy Omar Ayub, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Finance Advisor Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Commerce Advisor Abdul Razzak Dawood, Special Assistant to the PM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar and senior officers of ministries attended the meeting, a PM Office press release said.

                Briefing the prime minister in detail on the reforms process in the gas sector and availability of the petroleum products, Nadeem Babar said a sufficient stock of the products was available in the country.

                The prime minister said the resolution of energy-related issues was among the government’s priorities and the reforms process in the gas sector would continue uninterrupted.

                He said the availability of limited gas reservoirs necessitated the judicious and productive use of the resources. He called for considering the availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the areas lacking the supply of natural gas to make the people meet their daily needs without cutting trees for the purpose.

APP

April 2, 2020: After a period of continuous teetering and tottering, the KSE-100 finally ended the session on Thursday on a highly optimistic note, as it gained around 1,277 points and closed at 30,782-mark.

The Index traded in a range of 1383.37 points or 4.69 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 30,841.39 and a low of 29,458.02.

Of the 94 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 88 closed up 6 closed down, while 0 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 226.57 million shares.

Sectors propping up the index were Commercial Banks with 328 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 258 points, Cement with 160 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 100 points and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 93 points.

The most points added to the index was by OGDC which contributed 81 points followed by PPL with 80 points, LUCK with 78 points, HUBC with 70 points and HBL with 68 points.

Sector wise, the index was let down by Tobacco with 11 points and Close - End Mutual Fund with 5 points.

The most points taken off the index was by PAKT which stripped the index of 11 points followed by COLG with 9 points, FFC with 9 points, HGFA with 5 points and NESTLE with 1 point.

All Share Volume increased by 117.87 Million to 311.59 Million Shares. Market Cap increased by Rs.206.48 Billion.

Total companies traded were 366 compared to 358 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 312 closed up, 47 closed down while 7 remained unchanged.

Total trades increased by 24,992 to 114,111.

Value Traded increased by 3.70 Billion to Rs.10.39 Billion

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