May 22, 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.

• ICT Export Remittances including Telecommunication, Computer and Information Services for the period July 2021 to April 2022, have surged to $2.2billion at a growth rate of 29.29 % in comparison to $1.7 billion during the same period in FY 2020-21.
• The banking sector spread for the month of April 2022 increased by 35 basis points (bps) over the month which brings its latest value to 5.02% as compared to the prior month's spread of 4.67%.
• The weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the combined consumption group recorded an increase of 1.42% for the week ended on May 19, 2022, mainly due to a sharp increase observed in the prices of essential food items.
• Amid an increase in car prices and higher interest rates, automobile financing in Pakistan has witnessed a marginal increase of 0.9% MoM to Rs367 billion in April 2022.
• Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities (outstanding) reached $128.9 billion at the end of 3QFY22, witnessing an increase of $12.6bn or 10.83% YoY.
• The total debt of the central government surged to Rs43 trillion in March 2022, compared to Rs38.7tr in June 2021, witnessing an increase of Rs4.3tr or 11% in 9MFY22.
• Total Power generation in the country increased by 23.7% YoY and 24.4% MoM to 12,96 GWh during April 2022 at a cost of Rs10.24 per unit, compared to 10,481 GWh in April 2021 at the cost of Rs5.57 per unit.
• Pakistan’s total external debt servicing (principal and interest) by the government has reached a total of $4.87bn at the end of 3QFY22, 11.88% higher when compared to 2QFY22.
• Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) was recorded at $623 million in April 2022, down by 39% when compared to $1.02 billion in March 2022 on the back of an increase in workers’ remittances and a fall in imports
• Pakistan’s trade deficit in services deteriorated by 2.6x YoY to $387 million in April 2022 from $148mn in the same month of the previous year.
• The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan in April 2022 stood at $170.6 million against the outflow of $30.4mn recorded in March 2022
• The total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country decreased by $214.7 million or 1.3% WoW to stand at the lowest level of $16.16 billion since Dec 06, 2019, during the week ended on May 13, 2022, compared to $16.37bn in the previous week.
• The government has released funds amounting to Rs1,949.72 million to execute seven ongoing and six new petroleum-related projects during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2021-22) against a total allocation of Rs3,249.54 million.
• To put off pressure from foreign exchange reserves and stabilize the exchange rate, the government has decided on Thursday to ban the import of non-essential luxury items.
• The government raised Rs351 billion through the auction of three, six, and twelve-month T-bills against the target of Rs500bn and maturity of Rs279bn.
• The total deposits held by scheduled banks have declined slightly by 2.1% MoM or Rs424 billion to stand around Rs20.1 trillion in the fourth month of the calendar year 2022 i.e., April 2022.
• The number of Raast IDs registration has crossed the 10 million mark since its launch in Feb22, another milestone achieved by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the journey of digitization.
• The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved a supplementary grant of Rs55.48 billion for the payment of price differential claims (PDCs) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Refineries.
• The Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) on Monday realized the target of issuing Rs980 billion fresh bonds in the last 10 months of the current fiscal year 2021-22 from July 1st to May 15th.
• The country has witnessed the highest ever monthly textile exports of $1.739 bn during April 2022, up by 31% YoY and 7% MoM.
• The import bill of oil was recorded at $2.22 billion in April 2022, depicting an upsurge of 94.38% YoY and 19.44% MoM.
• Sazgar Engineering Works Limited (SAZEW) sold 910 units of Auto Rickshaw during the month of April 2022, which was around 52% lower than the sales of 1,911 units made in the previous month.
• The government decided to keep the petrol prices unchanged with effect from May 16, 2022, till further order.

Copyright Mettis Link News

32877