August 01, 2021 (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 0.03% during the week ended Jul 29, 2021 while the SPI increased by 12.2% 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 July 27, 2021 in Karachi, decided to maintain the Policy Rate at 7 percent.
• Google announced a total commitment of $7.5 million in new grant funding and other support to help alleviate the current pandemic crisis. As part of this new commitment, Google.org is providing a USD$1.5 million grant to UNICEF to support urgent COVID-19 response needs across five countries including Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
• The government has decided to execute a project of establishing the Strategic Underground Gas Storages (SUGS) by allocating funds amounting to Rs40 million under the Public Sector Development Programme 2021-22.
• The government has purchased four liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for September delivery at the highest-ever rates at more than $15 per million British thermal units, the highest since the country began LNG imports in 2015.
• Multinational companies operating in Pakistan repatriated $1.62 billion in profit and dividends on investments in the country during FY21 which was 21% higher than the profits of $1.35 billion repatriated FY20.
• World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $100 million in financing to support Pakistan’s efforts to increase literacy and student retention rates in the Sindh province.
• The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), being the operator of Wali Exploration Licence with 100% working interest has made a gas and condensate discovery over Kawagarh Formation from its exploratory efforts at well Wall # 01 which is located in FR Lakki, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
• Foreign investors purchased net securities worth Rs8.66 billion during the week ended July 16, 2021, whereas last week, the accounts observed a net sale of Rs681.92 million.
• Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 252.50 Million or 1% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 24,875.50 Million on Jul 23, 2021.
• The Economic Coordination Committee has re-validated Rs352 billion for meeting COVID-related expenditures, including procurement of vaccines to immunize at least 85 million people by the end of this year.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognized Pakistan’s robust economic activity and maintained the global growth forecast largely unchanged at 6% for the current year and 4.9% for the next year.
• The overall Business Confidence Index improved further by 6 points, reaching its highest level of 64 points in June 2021, from 58 points in April 2021.
• The overall urea offtake during the month of June 2021 was 690 thousand tonnes, depicting a decline of 40.7 percent as compared to the same period of last year.
• The total DAP offtake during the month of June 2021 was recorded at 68 thousand tonnes, registering a decrease of 61.3 percent as compared to the offtake of 176 thousand tonnes in June 2020.
• Total nutrient offtake during the month of June 2021 was about 411 thousand nutrient tonnes, showing a decline of 41.4 percent over the same timeframe of 2020. Nitrogen, phosphate and potash offtake decreased by 39.3 percent, 56 percent and 11 percent, respectively in June 2021.
• Amid low-interest rates and economic recovery, Banks’ lending to the Private sector surged by 10% YoY and 3% MoM to Rs6.82trillion in June’21, the latest data issued by SBP showed.
• Pakistan’s IT sector has achieved another milestone in the outgoing financial year as it crossed the $2 billion export mark for the first time in Pakistan’s history.
• Pakistan's outstanding debts as of June 30, 2021 stand at a heaping sum of Rs.25.31 trillion whereas total debt at the end of the prior month was Rs.24.11 trillion, meaning that around Rs.1199.95 billion were additionally borrowed during this month alone.

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