December 22, 2019 (MLN): The last week witnessed many important developments on the economic front that revealed the current standing position of the country. These developments include:
On Friday, Hutchison Ports Pakistan created maritime history in Pakistan by welcoming maiden call of CV COSCO BELGIUM. It is the largest container vessel to ever call at any port of Pakistan, with length overall of 366 meters and a capacity of 13,386 TEUs.
Meanwhile, adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in a tweet said that in last five months, increase in State Bank of Pakistan's reserves by $1.8 billion and reduction of $3 billion in FX swaps/forward liabilities increased FX buffer by $4.8 billion which provided further stability to the external account.
Furthermore, Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Zubair Gilani on Friday said that industrial revolution is on cards in Pakistan due to effective and positive policies of the government in regard of developing Special Economic Zones under China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC).
On Thursday, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the first review of Pakistan’s economic performance under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The completion of the review will allow the authorities to draw SDR 328 million (about US$ 452.4 million), bringing total disbursements to SDR 1,044 million (about US$ 1,440 million).
Subsequently, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Dr Reza Baqir on Thursday said that economic indicators have become positive, and with mobilisation of national resources more relief will be provided to the private sector in future.
On Wednesday, Federal Minister Khusro Bakhtiar has called a meeting on Monday to discuss the matters regarding availability of urea & DAP for Rabi season and concerns regarding high prices of urea and DAP.
Moreover, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 1,387 new companies in November, indicating an increase of 30 % as compared to the corresponding period last year.
On the upside, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Industry and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Wednesday said that Malaysian big automobile player ‘Proton” of ALHAJ Automotive agreed to start manufacturing in Pakistan in the next three years. He hoped that shift of automobile manufacturing unit of ‘ Proton’ cars from Malaysia to Pakistan would turnaround the local auto sector.
The same day, the Petroleum Division rejected a news item appearing in a cross-media section about 214 percent increase in gas tariff from next month, saying “no such increase has been notified by the government.”
On Tuesday, State Bank of Pakistan delegated the registration of FCY loans from abroad to banks in order to facilitate the corporate entities for raising foreign currency (FCY) loans from abroad and further improve the business environment in the country.
Furthermore, Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Hammad Azhar on Tuesday emphasized that Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) further scale up its financing for development projects in Pakistan.
Lastly, on Monday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) extended the date of filing for tax returns by another 15 days. This is perhaps the fourth time FBR has extended the date for filing tax returns
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