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February 21, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan will remain on Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Grey List till June 2020.

According to various media sources, the FATA has given Pakistan until the next review in June 2020 to complete the action plan.

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February 21, 2020: Pakistan and Japan have agreed to enhance mutual collaboration in myriad fields including infrastructure development, higher education, and cultural and academic exchanges.

The understanding came during a meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President of Japan International Cooperation Agency Shinichi Kitaoka in Islamabad on Friday.

The Prime Minister appreciated Japan's role as an important development partner, with its work in line with the government's priorities.

He highlighted new opportunities and incentives available in Pakistan for Japanese investors as well as the government's success in stabilizing the economy and creating an enabling environment for business.

Imran Khan underscored the existing goodwill and historic relations between Pakistan and Japan and said he was looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Abe in Pakistan at the earliest opportunity.

Shinichi Kitaoka briefed the Prime Minister on JICA's economic and technical assistance to Pakistan. He highlighted JICA's particular focus on health and education sectors.

Radio Pakistan

February 21, 2020 (MLN): The stock market remained under pressure today with the benchmark KSE-100 index dipped by another 232 points or 0.57% from yesterday’s session and closed the week at 40,249 mark.

The index remained negative throughout the session amid indecisiveness among investors.

According to Ismail Iqbal Securities,  Government’s decision to freeze gas and electricity tariff increment for the near term will bode well for industrials while keeping energy stocks under pressure.

The Benchmark KSE100 index ended the trading session on Friday with a 232.43 point or 0.57 percent decline to close at 40,249.22.

The Index traded in a range of 355.71 points or 0.88 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 40,527.08 and a low of 40,171.37.

Of the 89 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 27 closed up 57 closed down, while 5 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 58.48 million shares.

Sector wise, the index was let down by Fertilizer with 92 points, Commercial Banks with 64 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 49 points, Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. with 35 points and Pharmaceuticals with 11 points.

The most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 65 points followed by MCB with 44 points, DAWH with 34 points, OGDC with 31 points and HBL with 24 points.

Sectors propping up the index were Power Generation & Distribution with 24 points, Cement with 21 points, Miscellaneous with 8 points, Tobacco with 6 points and Insurance with 5 points.

The most points added to the index was by HUBC which contributed 24 points followed by LUCK with 18 points, SHFA with 8 points, HMB with 7 points and PMPK with 6 points.

All Share Volume decreased by 26.49 Million to 85.60 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.33.17 Billion.

Total companies traded were 326 compared to 330 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 131 closed up, 172 closed down while 23 remained unchanged.

Total trades decreased by 12,951 to 41,496.

Value Traded decreased by 1.14 Billion to Rs.3.58 Billion

February 21, 2020: Ambassador of Peoples Republic of China, Mr. Yao Jing called on the Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar here today, to discuss matters relating to CPEC, B2B collaboration between the two countries and social sector development in Pakistan came under discussion. 

The Minister expressed his satisfaction at the overall delivery of CPEC projects and said that the pace of implementation would be further accelerated. He said that the establishment and operationalization of the Special Economic Zones in all of the provinces is a top priority and the progress in this regard is being closely monitored. The SEZ would act as a catalyst in increasing the growth of local manufacturing.

Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing appreciated Government of Pakistan’s efforts to fast track the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects. He expressed his desire to put special focus on Rail Transport, Hydel Power Projects, Social Sector Development Projects and B2B collaboration between the two countries. He further stated that China would also consider to invest in the low-cost housing program.

The Chinese Ambassador said that the meetings of some of the JWGs will be held through video conferencing to ensure preparation for the upcoming JCC meeting without any delay.

The Minister for Planning also said that the Provincial and the Federal Government are highly interested in the KCR (Karachi Circular Railway) project and discussed the latest developments regarding the project.

He emphasized the need to increase B2B collaboration in Banking, Telecom and Digital Finance, Manufacturing and Agriculture Sectors. The Ambassador assured the Minister that the Chinese side is keen to promote such relationships

Press Release

February 21, 2020 (MLN): Deadly coronavirus has been sweeping across the world, affecting the Chinese economy and global business with operations or suppliers from the ground zero of this outbreak, Hubei. 

The cries of despair can be seen as the economic damages are mounting around the world as a result of the devastating outbreak which can further impact businesses and supply chains, and the economy at large in near future.

The research report by Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global data provider, has analyzed the data, providing insights and near-term recommendations for businesses looking to mitigate risk and further disruption to their supply chains.

However, it may be too early to define the exact impact the coronavirus outbreak will have on global businesses, past pandemics are helping to develop a scenario-driven assessment of economic conditions for the region in the short and medium-term that can be used to assess the level of risk and potential impact to their operations.

According to the research note, the Chinese economy which makes up about 20% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has the cascading effect which might cause a drag of approximately one percentage point on global GDP growth if containment is delayed beyond the summer of 2020.

As a result, the Dun & Bradstreet has presented the research hypothesis about an area of concern i.e. a major portion of China’s employment and sales emanate from the businesses within the impacted region and have intricate ties to the global business network.

The data of Dun & Bradstreet revealed that the most impacted provinces among the sample of 18 provinces; Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing, and Shandong provinces accounted for 90% of all active businesses in China.

With a vast portion of business activity being concentrated in the impacted region, the top five major sectors; services (personal and business), wholesale trade, manufacturing, retail, and financial services command a majority of employment and sales volume that is nearly 80% of all businesses.

As a nerve centre of businesses representing several industry verticals, it is not surprising that the impacted region has commercial ties throughout the globe. The countries with the highest dependency on the impacted region include the USA, Japan, Germany, the UK, and Switzerland.

Moreover, many global businesses are dependent on the area to fuel their supply chain, at least 51,000 (163 Fortune 1000) companies around the world have one or more direct or Tier 1 suppliers in the impacted region, and at least five million companies (938 Fortune 1000) around the world have one or more Tier 2 suppliers in the impacted region.

Regarding possible economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Dun & Bradstreet underscored that it is unpredictable as expectations for Chinese economic performance also remain unfavourable based on its performance in the recent quarters given that fact that the Chinese economy grew 6.1% in 2019, dropping from 6.8% in 2018 and 7% in 2017.

Further, Trade tensions with the United States may be a major cause for the slowdown. A partial “Phase 1” trade deal went into effect in late 2019 and eased uncertainty for both countries, but most tariffs still remain in place.

To stimulate the growth pattern in China, Dun & Bradstreet projected two scenarios; (i) containment by Q22020 (ii) delayed containment beyond Q42020.

The research note identified that in both scenarios, consumer demand is expected to become concentrated on emergency medical services and supplies, and food deliveries within the Hubei province and throughout China as the outbreak spreads. The primary and secondary industries are expected to shrink throughout the course of the outbreak, limited to reduced food production and less demand for most retail and wholesale goods.

However, the manufacturing sector is worth mentioning here, which could remain active for the production of medical supplies, and the construction sector, which could be boosted initially with the building of medical facilities, clinics, or hospitals. The Tertiary Industries are expected to run depending on a few sub-sectors, the study added.

No matter which scenario plays out, the Hubei region, China, and the global economy are indicated to see a churn in their business population and some lacklustre employment and revenue growth in the near-term.

When (not if) containment and eradication is achieved, factors within the impacted geography are bound to generate economic activity with consumers, satisfying pent-up demand once improved conditions are underway. The study highlighted that the sum of the efforts to revitalize the region will place the global economy back on track for sustained growth.

As the final impacts to companies with business operations in the affected regions are uncertain, the research of Dun & Bradstreet recommended some near term and long-term best practices to mitigate further risk to a company’s supply chain which are given below:

• Develop a risk-based assessment process and monitor the risks continuously
• Complete an assessment of suppliers to ensure your suppliers’ suppliers are not going to negatively impact your business.
• Identify alternative suppliers in non-impacted regions of the world to diversify the supply chain.
• Periodically test and revise your strategy to account for organizational growth and environmental change.

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