Weekly Economic Roundup

December 22, 2019 (MLN): The financial snapshot of the country was brought to light with the economic and financial data releases over the course of the week.

• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group decreased by 0.03% during the week ended Dec 19, 2019, while the SPI increased by 17.94% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• Imports into Pakistan during the month of November 2019 amounted to Rs. 612,215 million as against Rs. 635,282 million in October 2019 and Rs. 611,630 million during November 2018, showing a decrease of 3.63% over October 2019 but an increase of 0.10% over November 2018.
• Exports from Pakistan during November 2019 amounted to Rs.312,420 million as against Rs.315,698 million in October 2019 and Rs.245,484 million during November 2018 showing a decrease of 1.04% over October 2019 but an increase of 27.27% over November 2018.
• Pakistan’s Current Account Deficit for the month of November 2019 stood at USD 319 million showing a decline of 72.64 percent when compared to USD 1.166 billion from last year.
• The overall imports of the Petroleum Group witnessed a 21.8% decline during Jul-Nov 2019 as compared to the corresponding period of the last year.
• The exports of the food group witnessed an increase of 16.20% YoY to $1.75 billion during Jul-Nov FY20. Whereas, imports of the food group into the country during the period under review were recorded at $2.08 billion, down by 15.36% YoY as per the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
• Mobile Phone imports during Jul-Nov 2019 increased by 57% YoY, as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
• Export of services during Jul-Nov 2019 increased by a small amount of $459 million i.e. 3% YoY, according to the latest data published by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
• The overall exports of the textile group witnessed an increase of 4.68% YoY to stand at $5.76 billion during Jul-Nov FY20. Whereas, imports of the textile group into the country during the period under review plummeted by 28.25% YoY to $793 million as per data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data.
• The imports of the transport group plunged by 37.69%YoY during Jul-Nov FY20 to value at $677 million as against $1.08 billion of the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
• Pakistan's Forex Reserves increased by USD 1,607.40 Million or 10.02% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 17,655.50 Million on Dec 13, 2019.
• Foreign Investors continued to be the net buyers for the ninth consecutive week, indicating that their confidence on the local market has increased as the total purchase of securities during the week via Special Convertible Rupee Account (SCRA) outstripped total sale by around Rs. 5.7 million as on December 13, 2019.
• Norway has emerged as the first largest foreign direct investor in Pakistan during Jul-Nov FY20, with investments pegged at about $334 million.
• According to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on total Foreign Investment received by sectors, the Communication sector has received the highest net foreign investment of $291.6 million during Jul-Nov 2019.
• The overall output of LSMI decreased by 6.48% during July-Oct, 2019-20, as compared to July-Oct, 2018-19.
• Pakistan's outstanding debts as of November 30, 2019 stand at a massive sum of Rs.20.64 trillion whereas total debt at the end of the prior month was Rs.20.57 trillion, meaning that around Rs.67.26 billion were additionally borrowed during this month alone.
• The non-government sector has borrowed another net sum of Rs.1.89 billion during the week ended December 13, 2019, which brings the cumulative net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year FY2020 to Rs.70.59 billion. The net borrowing as of prior week was recorded at Rs.68.7 billion.
• The government of Pakistan has retired Rs.181.16 billion during the week ended December 13, 2019, which brings its total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year 2020 to Rs.252.65 billion. As of prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.433.82 billion.
• Foreign investment in Pakistan observed a 319% increase in a month as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) recorded investments worth $904.1 million in November 2019, against a total of $215.8 million worth of ventures in the previous month.
• Non- Resident Pakistanis have placed accumulated 254.26 billion Rupees of funds on deposits with the Pakistani banking system at the end of November 2019, depicting a growth of 24% YoY.
• The Ministry of Planning Development and Reforms has so far given the authorization to release Rs81.132 million for various Textile Industry sector development projects under its Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the financial year 2019-20 as against the total allocation of Rs 202.828 million.
• The government has released funds amounting to Rs 288.103 million during the first six months of the current fiscal year to execute petroleum projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2019-20) against the total allocation of Rs581.812 million.

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