August 8, 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. 

• Overseas investors purchased net securities worth Rs.1.31 billion during the week ended July 30, 2021, whereas last week, the accounts observed a net sale of Rs.4.67 billion.
• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 0.12% during the week ended Aug 05, 2021 while the SPI increased by 12.4% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 22.30 Million or 0.09% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 24,853.20 Million on Jul 30, 2021.
• Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) reached $1.87 billion within 11 months since its launch while investments in government securities like Naya Pakistan Certificated were recorded at $1.278bn.
• The Oil and Marketing Companies (OMCs) continued to post notable growth as in the month of July’21, OMCs witnessed a surge of 17% YoY to clock in at 1.94 MTs, compared to 1.65 MTs in July’20.
• The board of governors of the International Monetary Fund on Monday greenlit increasing the institution's lending capacity by $650 billion, the last step in approving an initiative to boost aid to the most vulnerable countries.
• Exports from Pakistan grew at 17.3% to USD2.35 billion during the first month of this financial year i.e. July as compared to USD2 billion in July 2020. These are the highest ever exports in the month of July.
• Pakistan's Yearly Inflation Rate (New Base 2015-16) in July 2021 was 8.40% against 9.7% recorded in the previous month and 9.3% YoY in July 2020.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs525 million on eight banks that violated SBP’s rules and regulations during the quarter ended June 30, 2021.
• SBP notified revision of foreign exchange instructions pertaining to commercial remittances with the objective of promoting ease of doing business and facilitating legitimate cross-border commercial payments on account of services.  
• The Central Director of National Savings (CDNS) has set an annual gross receipt target of Rs980 billion from July 1 to June 30th of the current Fiscal year 2021-22 to promote the culture of saving in the country.
• Despite ongoing PSDP projects and government policies to boost the construction sector including Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme, the demand for cement has dented by 19.4% YoY in July 2021.

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