October 10, 2021 (MLN): The latest weekly roundup covers the latest economic and financial data releases over the past week to keep an eye on next week's trends.

• The first leg of ongoing technical level talks between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the resumption of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) concluded on a positive note, said the Spokesperson to the Finance Minister, Muzzammil Aslam.
• Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) approved the summary submitted by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs on the Report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Establishment of New Terminals.
• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 1.21% during the week ended Oct 07, 2021, while the SPI increased by 12.94% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• SBP launched a dedicated landing webpage, https://www.sbp.org.pk/hcf/index.html, on promoting housing and construction finance on its website.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,223 new companies in September 2021, up by 20% over the same period in the preceding year.
• The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Friday notified Rs 1.95 per unit increase in power tariff for August under the monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA) mechanism.
• The World Bank projected Pakistan's poverty rate to ease from the current 4.8% to 4.4% in the Fiscal year 2021-22 and 4.0% in the next fiscal year (2022-23).
• Remittances by overseas Pakistanis continued to surge, recording $2.7 billion in September 2021, up by 0.5% MoM and 16.9% YoY basis.
• The flow of circular debt in the power sector during the July-Aug FY22 declined from Rs86 billion last year to just Rs 13 billion this year.
• Overseas Pakistanis deposited USD297 million into Roshan Digital Account during September 2021, taking the cumulative amount to USD2.41 billion.
• Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood on Thursday, appreciated a new investment worth USD 5billion in the domestic Textile sector.
• The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Thursday, constituted a sub-committee headed by the Finance Minister to take a decision regarding the ban on exports of tomatoes and onions.
• The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at US$ 25,999.9 million on 01-October-2021, down by US$ 150.9 million or 1% WoW.
• The total electricity generation in the country including the power plants connected with National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) and Karachi-Electric KE Systems was recorded as 143,090.64 GWh in the fiscal year 2020-21 as compared to 133,727.20 GWh in FY 2019-20 showing an increase of 9,363.44 GWh.
• Cognizant of the increased gas consumption especially during the winter season, the government decided to execute a project of establishing the Strategic Underground Gas Storages (SUGS) by allocating funds amounting to Rs40 million under the Public Sector Development Programme 2021-22.
• The World Bank (WB) on Thursday projected Pakistan’s economy to ease to 3.4% in FY22 but strengthen thereafter to 4.0 percent in FY23 with the implementation of key structural reforms, particularly those aimed at sustaining macroeconomic stability, increasing competitiveness, and improving the financial viability of the energy sector.
• The total debt of the Central Government during the month of August 2021 surged by Rs4.11trillion or around 11.5% YoY to stand at Rs39.77tr when compared to Rs35.66tr recorded in August 2020.
• Investors withdrew Rs24.86billion on a net basis from National Savings Schemes (NSS) during the month of Aug’21 compared to the inflow of Rs7.28bn in the same month last year, Central bank data showed on Tuesday.
• The Federal Cabinet approved the seasonal electricity package for domestic and commercial consumers to encourage power consumption during off-peak months as they will have a discount of Rs5 to Rs7 per unit.
• Pakistan's merchandise trade deficit for the month of September 2021 clocked in at $4.1billion compared to a deficit of $2.4bn in the corresponding month last year, depicting a growth of 70% YoY.
• CY2021 has so far proved to be exceptional for Pakistani startups as they raised a record USD 305 million of investment globally during July-Sep 2021. The sectors include E-commerce, Fintech, Health and Freight.
• The overall sales volume of the Oil and Marketing industry has increased by 29% YoY to stand at 1.96MTs in the month of Sep’21 as compared to 1.52MTs in the same month a year ago.

Copyright Mettis Link News

27344