December 13, 2020 (MLN): The latest weekly roundup is here to update the financial and economic data releases, providing a guide to keeping an eye on trends in the upcoming week.

• Pakistan’s Forex Reserves increased by USD 160.60 Million or 0.79% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 20,402.40 Million on Dec 04, 2020.
• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group decreased by 0.26% during the week ended Dec 10, 2020 while the SPI increased by 8.44% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• The total debt of the Central Government during the month of October 2020 surged by Rs. 3.32 trillion or 10.27% to stand at Rs. 35.50 trillion when compared to Rs 32.19 trillion recorded in October 2019.
• The sale of passenger cars during the month of November 2020 was recorded at 11,914 units against a total production of 11,352 units, showing a meager decline of 0.69% as compared to the 11,997 units sold in October 2020.
• In order to further the objectives of establishing the Special Technology Zones under the Special Technology Zone Authority Ordinance 2020, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to issue special foreign exchange regulations for entities operating in Special Technology Zones in Pakistan, in terms of sub-section 5 of Section 19 of the Ordinance and in the exercise of powers conferred under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.
• Foreign Investors during the week ended December 4, 2020, took out a net amount of Rs.3.92 billion by selling of local securities, which is around Rs.2.35 billion lower than last week’s numbers.
• Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has upgraded the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of 29 banks and the long-term foreign-currency issuer rating of one bank across five countries: Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey.
• Workers’ remittances maintained their strong momentum in November, remaining above US$2 billion for a record 6th consecutive month. They rose to US$2.34 billion, up 2.4% over the previous month and 28.4% over November 2019.
• The overall business confidence improved further by 3 points and reached two years high to 55 points in October 2020, from 52 points in August 2020.
• The overall Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) declined by 7.5% and overall Inflation Expectations plunged by 1% in November 2020 against the previous survey conducted in September 2020. Moreover, both the Current Economic Conditions (CEC) index and the Expected Economic Conditions (EEC) index showed decelerations.
• Pakistan has ranked 127th across 128 countries in the world on effectively guaranteeing fundamental labour rights, as per World Justice Project and Gallup & Gilani Pakistan.
• State bank of Pakistan (SBP) has halted the sale of Rs 25,000 denomination prize bonds with immediate effect. The National Prize Bonds will not be encashed or redeemed after 31^st May 2021.
• Sazgar Engineering Works Limited (SAZEW) has submitted the production and sales data of three-wheelers for the month of November 2020.
• Inward remittances from overseas Pakistani into Roshan Digital Account rose to $7.7 million, their highest ever daily amount.
• The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received a record number of returns along with the highest ever amount of income tax at the time of filing. A total of nearly 1.8 million returns have been filed together with an amount of about Rs.22 billion.
• The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $300 million in financing for two projects in Pakistan—the Sindh Resilience Project and the Solid Waste Emergency and Efficiency Project.
• Pakistan for the first time has become one of the five countries in the world with the most investment commitments in the first half of the year as per the World Bank’s Half Yearly Report on Private Participation in Infrastructure 2020.
• Fitch Ratings expects world GDP to fall by 3.7% in 2020 compared to 4.4% in the September GEO. This is despite the expectation of renewed falls in GDP in 4Q20 in the eurozone and the UK – following the recent tightening of restrictions – and reflects the fact that global activity rebounded much more quickly than expected in 3Q20.
• Exports of Pakistan to the US during the months of Oct & Nov 2020 stood at USD 430 million & USD 437 million respectively. This is the first time that exports to the US have crossed US dollar 400 million mark in a month.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), under its refinancing scheme for protecting businesses from the impact of COVID-19, has so far deferred Rs 657.8 billion principal repayments of loans up to one year.

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