Tag: news alert

May 29, 2020: Pakistan on Friday allowed both national and foreign airlines to operate outbound international flights from all major airports, except Gwadar and Turbat.

“As per the decision of the government, the outbound international flights (scheduled, non-scheduled, and charter flights) operation has been allowed with effect from 2359 hours tonight (Friday),” a spokesman for the Aviation Division said in a brief news release.

With exception of Gwadar and Turbat, he said, both national and foreign airlines would be allowed to operate from all international airports of the country.

The spokesman said Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for outbound international flights had already been issued, according to which “airlines will be required to follow the SOPs of the destination country. Additionally, disinfection of aircraft will be ensured and no congestion at airports shall be allowed.”

APP

May 29, 2020: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has asked Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to furnish a three-month data regarding depot-wise sales and stocks of petrol and high speed diesel by June 1.

“You [OMCs) are directed to provide depot-wise sales and stocks data in respect of MS [Petrol] and HSD [High Speed Diesel], as per the prescribed format, for the past three months (March, April and May) through return fax or email by 5 p.m. on June1. In case of failure to provide the above information within the stipulated time, legal action as per law shall be initiated,” the authority said in a letter written to Chief Executives of 33 OMCs operating in the country, a copy of which was available with APP.

OGRA also advised the OMCs to ensure smooth supply of petroleum products at their retail outlets.

Meanwhile, the authority asked the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) physically check and confirm the availability of MS and HSD with all OMCs depots, retail outlets and refinery storages.

“The retail outlets of all OMCs across the country be randomly inspected to ensure that sufficient product (MS & HSD) is available and shortage, if any, observed be reported to OGRA,” OGRA said.

They authority asked the HDIP to initiate the inspections on ‘urgent basis’ and accordingly submit a report by June 3. “The inspection charges shall be borne by the concerned OMC and refinery.”

OGRA also advised OMCs to ensure availability of their staff at all storage locations for access and smooth conduct of inspections by HDIP especially on May 30 and onward till June 2. “All OMCs will also ensure maximum cooperation and availability of relevant documents at their retail outlets.”

APP

May 29, 2020: On Thursday at Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited, PMEX Commodity Index settled at 4,063-mark, up by 13 points. The traded value of Metals, Energy and COTS/FX was recorded at PKR 6.236 billion and the number of lots traded was 12,176.

Major business was contributed by Gold amounting to PKR 2.467 billion, followed by Crude Oil (PKR 921.703 million), Currencies through COTS (PKR 778.305 million), Silver (PKR 574.233 million), NSDQ 100 (PKR 500.877 million), Platinum (PKR 335.459 million), DJ (PKR 315.429 million), SP500 (PKR 251.343 million), Natural Gas (PKR 83.143 million) and Copper (PKR 9.322 million).

In agriculture commodities, 7 lots Wheat amounting to PKR 28.899 million and 2 lots of Cotton amounting to PKR 0.939 million were traded.

Press Release

May 29, 2020 (MLN): The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 0.13% during the week ended May 28, 2020 while the SPI increased by 9.63% compared to the corresponding period from last year.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the Combined Index was at 128.32 compared to 128.15 on May 21, 2020 while the index was recorded at 117.05 a year ago, on May 30, 2019

Out of the 51 monitored items, the average price of 12 items increased, 9 items decreased whereas 30 items registered no change during the week.

The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 0.1% and 0.14%.

The Lowest Income Group witnessed a weekly increase of 0.1% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 0.12%.

On an yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 8.02% and 13.51%.

Yearly SPI for the Lowest Income Group increased by 11.07% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 8.02%.

The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs.1655 per 50 kg bag which is 0.36% lower than last week’s price and 10.49% lower when compared to last year.

Meanwhile, average Cement price was recorded at Rs.556 per 50 kg bag, which is 0.54% higher than the previous week and 3.35% higher than prices last year.

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May 29, 2020 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) depreciated by 1.1 rupees against US Dollar (USD) in today's interbank session as the currency closed the day's trade at PKR 163.1 per USD, against yesterday's closing of PKR 161.99 per USD.

1.75 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 163.50 and an intraday Low offer of 162.00.

During the week, the currency has lost 2.2 rupees against the greenback, as the previous week was concluded at PKR 160.92 per USD.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 161.5/163 per USD.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 2.3 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 200.75 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 198.47 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 2.8 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 180.98 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs.461.95 billion for 7 days at 8.02 percent.

The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 8.00/8.10 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 8.02/8.07 percent.

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