January 17, 2021 (MLN): The financial highlights of the country are brought to light with the economic and financial data releases over the course of the week.

• Imports into Pakistan during the month of December 2020 amounted to Rs. 801,162 million, showing an increase of 17.24% as against Rs. 683,354 million in November 2020 and 28.66% as compared to Rs. 622,709 million during December 2019.
• Exports from Pakistan during the month of December 2020 amounted to Rs. 378,792 million, showing an increase of 9.59% as compared to Rs. 345,640 million in November 2020 and 22.97% as compared to Rs. 308,032 million during December 2019.
• The gross sale of securities during the week ended January 08, 2021 was recorded at Rs.16.6 billion, which is around 747.7 percent higher than the figures recorded last week.
• The exports of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products witnessed an increase of 17.92% YoY and a decline of 30.43% MoM to value at USD 89.974 million during the month of December 2020.
• During July-Dec FY21, the imports of the machinery group fell by 4.34% YoY to $4.24 billion. The biggest contributor to the import bill, in terms of value, is Telecom, which showed a significant surge of 36.8% to $1.15 billion. Within Telecom, the imports of Mobile Phones jumped significantly by 52% YoY to $938 million during 1HFY21.
• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group decreased by 0.22% during the week ended Jan 14, 2021 while the SPI increased by 5.77% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• The exports of the food group witnessed a decline of 7.64% YoY to $2.03 billion during 1HFY21. While, imports of the food group into the country were recorded at $3.90 billion, up by 52% YoY in 1HFY21.
• Cement exports during the month of December 2020 declined by 8.58% YoY to USD 19.253 million from USD 21 million in Dec’19 due to the closure of ports and lower trade activity on the Pak-Afghan border as well as lower demand from international buyers given the pandemic situation.
• Pakistan’s textile exports during the month of December 2020, clocked in at $1.40 billion, up by 22.72% when compared with December 2019 and 9.20% when compared with November 2020.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved little increase in the petroleum prices against the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. According to new prices, a raise of 3.2 rupees per liter was allowed in petrol, high-speed diesel 2.95 rupees per liter, Kerosene oil 3 rupees per liter, and light diesel 4.42 per liter.
• Pakistan's Forex Reserves increased by USD 6.90 Million or 0.03% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 20,519.00 Million on Jan 08, 2021.
• The Federal Government has released 319.56 billion rupees for various ongoing and new social sector uplift projects under the current year's Public Sector Development Programme.
• Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that its stable outlook for Pakistan’s banking system reflects banks’ solid funding and liquidity, although a challenging – but improving – operating environment will weigh on asset quality and profitability.
• The overall output of LSMI increased by 7.41% for July-November 2020-21 compared to July-November 2019-20.
• The total money supply circulating within the economy in November 2020 has been recorded at around Rs.25.4 trillion, according to provisional accounts on Monetary Aggregates for the month, maintained by the State Bank of Pakistan.
• The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has imposed a fine of Pak Rupees.13,000,000 (13 million) on PESCO on charges of negligence resulting in fatal incidents during the period of July to December 2019.
• The sale of passenger cars during the month of December 2020 was recorded at 11,247 units against a total production of 11,514 units, showing a decline of 5.6% as compared to the 11,914 units sold in November 2020, and a growth of 12.6% as compared to 9,987 units sold in December 2019.

Copyright Mettis Link News

39219