March 28, 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.
Pakistani Rupee strengthened by 1.4 rupees against the greenback in a week.
The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 0.61% during the week ended Mar 25, 2021, while the SPI increased by 15.35% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
Pakistan’s Current Account deficit (CAD) declined by 75% YoY and 76% MoM to USD50 million in February 2021, compared with the deficit of USD197 million in February 2020 and USD210 million last month.
The total deposits held by Commercial Banks showed robust growth of 16% YoY to Rs 17.25 trillion in February 2021.
Pakistan's Forex Reserves increased by USD 275.50 Million or 1.37% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 20,434.60 Million on Mar 19, 2021.
Pakistan’s trade deficit in services stood at $186 million during the month of February 2021, signifying a fall of 54%, as compared to the same period of last year while it increased by 14% against $163 million recorded in January 2021.
The Banking sector spread for February 2021 remained static at 4.38% as it showed almost no change over the prior month's spread. However, the spread has contracted by 99 bps as compared to the same period last year.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an auction on Wednesday in which it sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs.1,549.71 billion for 3 and 6 months.
The government of Pakistan acquired an additional debt of Rs.213.3 billion during the week ended March 12, 2021, which brings its total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year 2021 to Rs.586.79 billion. As of the prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.373.49 billion.
The non-government sector retired a net sum of Rs.15.85 billion during the week ended March 12, 2021, which brings the cumulative net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year FY2021 to Rs.345.71 billion. The net borrowing as of the prior week was recorded at Rs.361.56 billion.
Total nutrient offtake during February 2021 was about 309 thousand tonnes, showing a decrease of 3.4 percent over February 2020.
Total Urea offtake during the month of February stood at 406 thousand tonnes, which is 11.8 percent lower than the same period of last year.
DAP offtake witnessed a marginal increase of 0.6 percent during the month of February 2021, standing at 88 thousand tonnes when compared to the same period of last year.
USA remained as the top export destination for Pakistan with $3.08 billion worth of shipments in July-Feb FY21, against the exports of $2.75 billion in the same period of last year, showing an increase of 12% YoY.
Among Pakistan’s top trading partners, China remained the top source of imports for Pakistan during July-Feb FY21, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, the USA, and Saudi Arabia.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), under its refinance scheme for setting up new projects or expansion, approved 609 projects with an amount of Rs537.6 billion for which it received requests for 671 projects with the amount of Rs 751.26 billion.
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