February 28, 2020 (MLN): The latest weekly roundup is here to update few financial and economic releases, providing a guide to monitor trends in the upcoming week.

• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 2.41% during the week ended Feb 25, 2021 while the SPI increased by 13.89% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• Multinational companies operating in Pakistan repatriated $1.025 billion in profit and dividends on investments in the country during the seven months of FY21 which was 8% higher than the profits of $946.6 million repatriated in the corresponding period of last year.
• The gross sale of securities by foreign investors during the week ended February 19, 2021 was recorded at Rs.11.4 billion, which is around 11 percent lower than the figures recorded last week.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation on Friday in which it injected Rs.1,102.95 Billion into the market for 7 Days.
• USA remained as the top export destination for Pakistan with $2.68 billion worth of shipments in Jul-Jan FY21, against the exports of $2.44 billion in the same period of last year, showing an increase of 10% YoY.
• Among Pakistan’s top trading partners, China remained the top source of imports for Pakistan during July-Jan FY21, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, and the USA.
• Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 17.00 Million or 0.08% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 20,041.60 Million on Feb 19, 2021. According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) its reserves increased by USD 19.00 Million.
• Pakistan has received $6.66 billion total external inflows during July-Jan FY21 from bilateral and multilateral development partners, foreign commercial borrowing, and time deposits to restructure its economy and finance its development projects.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an auction on Wednesday in which it sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs.791.51 billion for 3 and 6 months.
• The Ministry of Commerce released Rs 5.5 billion under the Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) scheme, which includes Rs 3.762 billion for the textiles & Rs. 1.738 billion for the non-textile sector under the Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) scheme.
• The total DAP offtake during the month of January 2021 was 82 thousand tonnes, registering an increase of 87.9 percent as compared to the offtake of 44 thousand tonnes in January 2020.
• The overall urea offtake during the month of January 2021 was 649 thousand tonnes, which witnessed an increase of 147.8 per cent as compared to the offtake of 262 thousand tonnes in January 2020.
• The total nutrient offtake during the month of January 2021 was about 434 thousand tonnes compared to 177 thousand tonnes during January 2020, showing an increase of 145.1 per cent.
• Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar on Tuesday informed total industrial power consumption in the country increased by 17 percent in January 2021compared to same period of last year.
• The savings of the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) reached to the free deposit of Rs 530 billion during the last 7 months in the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), under its refinancing scheme for protecting businesses from the impact of COVID-19, has so far deferred Rs657.14 billion principal repayments of loans up to one year.
• Dun & Bradstreet Pakistan and Gallup Pakistan issued their report on ‘Pakistan Consumer Confidence Index (CCI)’ for Q4 2020, as per which, the Consumer Confidence Index remained 90.3 points in Q4 2020, compared to 88.7 points in Q3 2020, translating into 1.8% quarter-on-quarter increase.
• Pakistan’s current account deficit reduced to US$229 million in January 2021 from US$652 million last month and US$512 million in the same month a year ago, showing an improvement of 65% MoM and 55% YoY, largely due to recovery in exports and strong remittances.
• Pakistan’s trade deficit in services stood at $126 million during the month of January 2021, signifying a decline of 10%, as compared to the previous month and 36% as compared to the same period of last year (SPLY).
• The Banking sector spread for January 2021 marginally dilated by 3 basis points (bps) over the month which brings its latest value to 4.38% as compared to prior month's spread of 4.35%. In contrast, the spread has reduced by 132 bps as compared to the same period last year.
• Pakistan's outstanding debts as of January 31, 2021 stand at a collossal amount of Rs.23.33 trillion whereas total debt at the end of prior month was Rs.23.56 trillion, meaning that around Rs.227.38 billion were retired during this month alone.
• Pakistan’s Trade Sector received the highest net FDI worth $61.5 million in January’21, followed by the Power and Financial Business sector with net FDI of $40.9 million and $35.3 million respectively.
• The country attracted $1.145 billion of net FDI during July-Jan FY21, with China, Netherlands and Hongkong appeared as the top three investors in Pakistan with net FDI of $402.8 million, $122 million, and $105.2 million respectively.
• The non-government sector has borrowed another net sum of Rs.25.58 billion during the week ended February 05, 2021, which brings the cumulative net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year FY2021 to Rs.312.66 billion. The net borrowing as of prior week was recorded at Rs.287.08 billion.
• The government of Pakistan acquired an additional debt of Rs.10.14 billion during the week ended February 12, 2021, which brings its total net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year 2021 to Rs.172.6 billion. As of prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.162.45 billion.
• Foreign Investment in Pakistan totaled $240.6 million during the month of January, i.e. nearly 19% higher as compared to the previous month but 85% lower as compared to the same month of last year.

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