December 15, 2019 (MLN): The outgoing week witnessed a series of different events on the economic front that reveal the current economic and financial standing of the country’s economy. These include:
On Friday, Minister for Economic Affairs, Muhammad Hammad Azhar witnessed the signing ceremony of financing and project agreements of Khyber Pass Economic Corridor Project (KPEC) worth $406.6 million with the World Bank.
The same day, Pakistan and Germany inked financing agreement for Hydropower and Renewable Energy Phase-II worth 2,145.29 million rupees in Islamabad.
Furthermore, on the upside IMF director, Gerry Rice in a press briefing on Thursday said that Pakistan’s economic reforms program is on the right track and the policy reforms and measures mark a positive and significant turning point in Pakistan’s economic prospects for the population at large.
On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), to promote innovation in the financial sector and encourage startups, issued Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines, 2019. This would be Pakistan’s first Regulatory Sandbox in the financial services industry.
On a positive front, in a perception survey conducted by the American Business Council (ABC), Over 59% of the respondents indicated that the international perception of Pakistan had become better. This is a marked improvement over FY17-18 when 57% of participants rated it as being the same.
Moreover, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday approved the “Enactment of Pakistan Single Window Bill, 2019” to be forwarded to the Cabinet. The enactment of the Bill will highly facilitate the businesses in Pakistan.
Further, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) allowed banks to make advance payment up to 50% of the value of imports against letter of credit for manufacturing concerns.
Using this facility, manufacturing concerns will be able to import plant, machinery, spare parts and raw material etc. by making payment in advance.
In addition, International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to hold a board meeting on December 19, 2019, to review Pakistan’s performance under the extended fund facility. Pakistan is expected to receive around $450 million post a successful and positive review from IMF
Besides, Minister Counsellor in the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, Dr Wang Zhihua while talking to China Economic Net stated that China will provide more opportunities for Pakistani competitive goods to access its market under the second phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the Pakistan Dairy Association (PDA) said that Pakistan, the world’s third-largest milk producer, is expecting $1.5 billion in mainly foreign direct investment (FDI) in its dairy sector as the country ramps up marketing efforts for pasteurized milk.
The same day, Russian Trade Minister Denis Valentinovich during the sixth meeting of Pakistan-Russia intergovernmental Commission at the foreign office in Islamabad, expressed willingness to expand cooperation with Pakistan in different sectors including the industrial, agricultural, energy, medicine and railways.
On Tuesday, Pakistan was ranked at 152nd position among 189 countries in U.N.'s 2019 Human Development Index (HDI)'s annual rankings that is measured by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income.
On Monday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) decided to implement a Track and Trace System for specified goods/products i.e. Cement, Sugar, Fertilizer and Beverages imported into or manufactured in Pakistan. This has been done to prevent leakage of revenue, under-reporting of production and sales, and to ensure proper payment of FED and Sales Tax on the manufacture and sale of specified goods/ products.
Lastly, the government of Pakistan and ADB on Monday scaled up their partnership with the signing of $1billion special policy-based loan for macroeconomic stability and $300 million energy sector and financial sector reforms.
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