February 27, 2022 (MLN): The financial highlights of the country are brought to light with the economic and financial data releases over the course of the week.

• The country’s total textile exports have posted a growth of 32% YoY to around $10.36 billion during the seven months (July-Jan) of the current fiscal year as compared to $7.86bn in the corresponding period of FY21.
• The Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) of Pakistan remained broadly unchanged at 97.03 in January 2022, observing no change from December 2021.
• Repatriation of profit and dividends by foreign investors mostly remained flat during the first six months of this fiscal year (FY22).
• Pakistan’s total external debt servicing (principal and interest) by the government reached a total of $4.3bn at the end of 2QFY22, increased by a massive 2.6x compared to 1QFY22.
• Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities (outstanding) reached an all-time high of $130.6 billion at the end of 2QFY22, an increase of $13.6bn or 12% YoY.
• The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended on February 24, for the combined consumption group, witnessed a slight increase of 0.51 percent as compared to the previous week.
• Among Pakistan’s top trading partners, China remained the top source of imports for Pakistan during January 2022, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Singapore, and the USA.
• Though Pakistan’s exports to the USA have witnessed a 16% MoM decline during the month of January 2022, the country has emerged as the top export destination for Pakistan with $539 million worth of shipments against the exports of $641mn in the preceding month.
• The total debt of the central government during the month of December 2021 surged by Rs5.28 trillion or 14.6% YoY to clock in at Rs41.56tr against Rs36.27tr recorded in December 2020.
• The import bill of the petroleum group for the month of January 2022 shrank by around 25% MoM to stand at Rs1.1 billion, compared to Rs1.45bn in December 2021. However, on the yearly basis, the import bill of the same group has jumped by 90% YoY against Rs582 million in January 2021
• The country’s overall nutrients offtake fell by 8% to 400,000 tonnes during January 2022 from 435,000 tonnes in the same month last year.
• The total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country dropped by $264 million or 1.1% WoW to stand at $23.2 billion during the week ended on February 18, 2022, compared to $23.49bn in the previous week
• Pakistan’s trade deficit in services widened by 2.5x YoY to $406 million during January 2022 from $162mn in the same month of the previous year.
• Pakistan's current account deficit (CAD) rose to $2.6 billion in January 2022 from $1.9bn in December 2021, largely due to imports in kind that are fully financed.
• Pakistan's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) increased to 77 points in Q4 2021, compared to 70.8 points in Q3 2021, translating into an 8.8% QoQ increase.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an auction on Wednesday in which it sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs366.8 billion, against its target of Rs800bn while it received bids worth Rs732bn.
• The Information Technology (IT) exports have surged at the growth rate of 35.77 percent in the first six months of the current financial year.
• The banking sector spread for the month of January 2022 increased by 18 basis points (bps) over the month which brings its latest value to 4.26% as compared to the prior month's spread of 4.08%.
• The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) has sought an Rs6.10 per unit increase in power tariff for January under the monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) mechanism.

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