December 26, 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 country’s total nutrients offtake fell by 11.7% to 473,000 tonnes during November 2021 from 536,000 tonnes in the same period last year
• Pakistan’s urea sales increased by 7.7% to 574,000 tonnes in November 2021 when compared to 533,000 tonnes in the corresponding month of last year.
• The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the combined group witnessed an increase of 0.4% WoW for the week ended December 23, 2021.
• Pakistan received fresh external loans of $4.70 billion in the first five months of the ongoing fiscal i.e., July- Nov FY22 from multiple financing sources against the annual budget estimates of $14.09bn for the entire fiscal year FY22.
• The foreign exchange reserves held by the country dipped by $394.8 million or 1.67% WoW to stand at $24.63 billion during the week ended on December 17, 2021, compared to $25.02 billion in the previous week.
• K-Electric (KE), the sole electricity supplier in Karachi has sought about a 32 paisa per unit increase in tariff for the month of November.
• Pakistan fruit exporters are expected to export 15 to 20 containers of kinnows to the Chinese market next year.
• Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved projects worth Rs265 billion.
• Among Pakistan’s top trading partners, China remained the top source of imports for Pakistan during November 2021, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and then the USA.
• The government of Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed a $1.54 billion loan and grant agreement to improve energy, transport, irrigation, and urban sectors in Pakistan.
• The banking sector spread for November 2021 decreased slightly by 3 basis points (bps) over the month which brings its latest value to 4.17% as compared to the prior month's spread of 4.20%.
•  Pakistan’s trade deficit in services widened by 5x YoY to $249 million during the month of November 2021 from $49mn in the same month of the previous year.
• The Cabinet today approved the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) till 2025. It aims to enhance the ability of Pakistani enterprises capacity to produce, distribute and sell products and services more efficiently than our competitors.
• Pakistan’s current account deficit widened slightly by 8% MoM to stand at $1.9 billion in November 2021 from $1.76bn in October 2021 as imports outstripped strong exports & robust remittances.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has set a credit disbursement target for the agriculture sector at Rs1.7trillion for FY22, which is 21% higher than FY21.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has fixed the limit of individual purchase of foreign exchange which shall not be more than $10,000 per day and $100,000 per year or equivalent in other currencies per calendar year, in the form of cash or outward remittances.

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