April 10, 2022 (MLN): The highlights of the important economic and business events that took place during the last week are in order so as to become acquainted with the recent developments in Pakistan’s economic and public policy.

Events of Importance through the week:

• Pakistan's lower house of parliament on Sunday voted in favour of removing Prime Minister Imran Khan from office, following a nearly 14-hour standoff between the opposition and Khan's ruling party that started on Saturday morning.
• Muzzammil Aslam, spokesperson to the Finance Minister has been appointed as spokesperson of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Finance & Economy.
• Meanwhile, the government has disbursed an amount of Rs47,587.63 million for various power division schemes under Annual Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the year 2021-22 during the last three quarters.
• On Thursday, Toyota Pakistan suspended the bookings of all of its cars mainly owing to the deteriorating economic condition.
• On the same day, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided to impose a 100 percent cash margin on 177 imported products.
• In addition, SBP has increased the markup rate for financing under Export Finance Scheme (EFS), both Part I and Part II by 2.5%.
• The monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP at its emergency meeting on Thursday decided to raise the policy rate by 250 basis points to 12.25 percent.
• Supreme Court of Pakistan nullified the National Assembly deputy speaker ruling for turning down the vote of no confidence and dissolution of the National Assembly by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• To facilitate the closure of companies, SECP has launched an online portal of the Companies Easy Exit Scheme, automating and simplifying the process of an easy exit.
• Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO) has refuted the news item circulating in the media that the company has stopped FO and HSD supplies to IPPs and Railways.
• During the departed week, Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC) signed a loan of up to $100 million with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support its operations in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
• The members of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) reaffirmed their commitment to uplift the Pakistani society from all aspects and invested Rs14.5 billion in different CSR and Sustainable projects during 2020-21.
• On the upside, the federal government has successfully launched the Ramzan Relief Package through Utility Stores Corporation (USC) to provide special subsidies on 19 basic items for the convenience of the people.
• Cement despatches declined by 6.25 percent in March 2022.
• Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has granted around US$8 million to the government of Pakistan for executing various development projects with the collaboration of the Korean government.
• The cumulative outflows from the National Savings Schemes (NSS) during the first eight months of the current fiscal year were recorded at Rs87.52 billion.
• The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have collectively repaired around 887-kilometer faulty pipelines and rectified 1447,342 leakages.
• SBP received twenty applications for digital banks licenses from a diverse range of applicants, including domestic commercial banks, microfinance banks, electronic money institutions and FinTech players.
• On Wednesday, Citibank N.A. Pakistan (Citi) has entered into a referral arrangement with Haball Pvt Ltd (Haball) to provide digital receivables solutions to corporate clients.
• According to Asian Development Bank (ADB), Pakistan’s economic growth is expected to moderate to 4% in FY2022 due to tighter fiscal and monetary policies before picking up again in FY2023.
• Meezan Bank has recently signed an agreement with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to enable the digitalization of consumer bill collection via the Bank’s state-of-the-art Transaction Banking Solution (eBiz+).
• During the week, the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been slashed by Rs40 per kilogram mainly due to the reduction in production cost of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL).
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deferred over $2 billion in debt for Pakistan to help ease pressure on falling foreign reserves and domestic currency.
• Pakistan will import around 32.7 million barrels (MBL) of crude oil, during the year 2022, under an agreement signed with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to meet its needs for petroleum products on deferred payment.
• Finance Division notified on Monday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains committed to Pakistan's macroeconomic stability.
• The Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) has decided to start Islamic finance and will start implementing its procedural work next month to provide the facility of Islamic finance in the institution.

Announcements:

• On the equity front, the Board of Directors (BoD) of Loads Limited has approved the sale/disinvestment of the company's plot situated at Mouza Manga Autar, District Lahore.
• Ghani Global Glass Limited has successfully set up and fired 25 tons per day (TPD) the second furnace for manufacturing of glass tube.
• Fatima Fertilizer has reported a 39% YoY increase in net profits for the CY21 to Rs18.47 billion (EPS: Rs18.8).
• The board of Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited (FATIMA) has accorded a recommendation for investment in Fatima Cement Limited (FCL) by way of the acquisition of 30, 003,000 ordinary shares.
• After the successful completion of the home care production facility, Nimir Industrial Chemicals Limited has started commercial production of home care products for its multinational customers.
• Security Leasing Corporation Limited is in negotiation with the major creditors; namely Bank of Khyber, Bank of Punjab, and Soneri Bank for the loan settlement and revival of the company.
• The Dandot Cement Company Limited signed an additional agreement of $640,000 with its existing Chinese Supplier, Tianjin Cement Industry Design and Research Institute Company Limited (TCDRI).
• Bilal Fibres Limited (BILF) has requested Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) to remove the company’s name from the defaulter’s segment as the company is working on the revival of its operations.
• Arshad Energy Limited (AEL) has informed through a notice to exchange that the current furnace prices are not feasible for the plant operations, hence, the company’s plants are still having no production during the quarter ended March 31, 2022.
• The board of directors of IGI Investments (Private) Limited has approved to acquire of up to a 20% equity stake in Milvik Mobile Pakistan Limited subject to due diligence, completion of applicable corporate and regulatory approvals and execution of transaction agreements.
• Telecard Limited has announced that its subsidiary Supernet Limited (SNL) has been awarded a shariah screening certificate by Meezan Bank Limited.

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