January 24, 2021 (MLN): The weekly economic roundup summarizes the country's key economic and financial data for the week from various sectors to keep an eye on next week's trends.
- The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 0.32% during the week ended Jan 21, 2021 while the SPI increased by 6.54% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its meeting held on January 22, 2021, in Karachi, has decided to maintain the Policy Rate at 7 percent.
- Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 398.70 Million or 1.94% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 20,120.30 Million on Jan 15, 2021.
- The Banking sector spread for December 2020 decreased by 13 basis points (bps) over the month which brings its latest value to 4.35% as compared to the prior month's spread of 4.48%. Similarly, the spread has reduced by 172 bps as compared to the same period last year.
- Pakistan recorded a current account deficit of $662 million in December 2020 after a revised surplus of $513 million the previous month.
- Pakistan’s trade deficit in services witnessed a significant increase in the month of December 2020 as it rose by 3.55x to stand at $128 million against the deficit of $36 million recorded in November 2020.
- Pakistan welcomed Foreign Direct Investments of $193.6 million during the month of December 2020, after witnessing divestment of $16 million in November 2020.
- China emerged as the largest direct foreign investor in Pakistan during December 2020, with a net direct investment of $53.7 million, followed by Hongkong and United States who invested $30.9 million and $27.7 million net respectively, according to SBP data issued.
- The government has issued revised profit rates for National Saving Schemes certificates, which will be put into effect from January 21, 2020.
- The government has increased electricity tariff by 1.95 rupees per unit against the proposed raise of 2.18 rupees per unit, due to the burden that capacity charges will reach 1,455 billion rupees by the end of 2023, Minister for Power Division Omar Ayub announced on Thursday.
- The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the largest health care project ever done by the federal government worth Rs. 70 billion.
- Information and Communication Technology exports have witnessed a surge of 958 million dollars at the highest growth rate of 40 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year.
- The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) Thursday approved a summary regarding the construction of the Gwadar-Ratodero Road Project (M-8) sponsored by the Ministry of Communication and executed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) at a rationalized cost of Rs 38,026.28 million.
- The government of Pakistan has retired Rs.87.53 billion during the week ended January 08, 2021, which brings its total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year 2021 to Rs.273.14 billion. As of the prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.360.67 billion.
- The non-government sector has retired a net sum of Rs.128.87 billion during the week ended January 08, 2021, which brings the cumulative net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year FY2021 to Rs.189.62 billion. The net borrowing as of the prior week was recorded at Rs.318.49 billion.
- The privatization Commission (PC) Board was briefed about the latest progress made in the transactions of House Building Finance Corporation (HBFCL), Jinnah Convention Center (JCC), and First Women Bank (FWB) which are at advanced stages. The transaction structures of said entities have already been approved by the CCoP/Cabinet. The Board approved the committees for the pre-qualification of the potential bidders.
- National Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Thursday informed that the Public hearing on the CCPA petition for a fuel price adjustment (FCA) for December 2020 will be conducted on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
- The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), under its refinancing scheme for protecting businesses from the impact of COVID-19, has so far deferred Rs657.16 billion principal repayments of loans for up to one year.
- Pakistan has received $5.69 billion total external inflows during 1HFY21 from bilateral and multilateral development partners, foreign commercial borrowing, and time deposits to restructure its economy and finance its development projects.
- The Federal Government has released Rs. 319.56 billion for various ongoing and new social sector uplift projects till date under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2020-21.
- Savings mobilization by the National Savings Schemes (NSS) during July-Oct FY21 clocked in at Rs. 24.8 billion, compared to Rs.80.97 billion recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal year, marking a decline of 69% YoY.
- Pakistan’s Power Sector has received the highest net FDI worth $80.9 million in December’20, followed by the Trade and Oil & Gas Exploration sector with net negative FDI of $28.2 million and $26.5 million respectively.
- In a major achievement towards ensuring ease of doing business, Pakistan has improved 31 positions, from 142nd to 111th, on the rank of Trading Across Border Index.
- The total debt of the Central Government during the month of November 2020 surged by Rs. 3.69 trillion or 11% YoY to stand at Rs. 35.82 trillion when compared to Rs 32.13 trillion recorded in November 2019.
- The Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) has reached the free deposit of Rs 430 billion in the last six months from July 01 to December 31st current Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Posted on: 2021-01-24T12:42:00+05:00
39356