September 22, 2019 (MLN): The past week brought along a series of developments in public policy and bilateral relations with economic ties that opened several new avenues for development.
On Friday, Germany committed €109 million for future German Development Cooperation in Pakistan in addition to the on-going portfolio. The German side committed grants worth €84 million for financial and technical assistance projects along with a concessional loan worth € 25 million.
On the upside, International Monetary Fund (IMF), in a statement issued at the end of a visit by the IMF mission led by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, said that Pakistan’s current account was adjusting more rapidly than anticipated besides other key areas were also showing significant progress.
On Thursday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) imposed ban on supply of ginned cotton to unregistered person.
The same day, world's largest oil and gas company ExxonMobil inked a gas supply deal with Pakistani energy company Universal Gas Distribution Company (UGDC) which will result in the import of private LNG for the first time in the history of Pakistan.
On Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan conducted an auction on Wednesday in which it picked up Rs.274 Billion for 3, 5 and 10 years as cut off yields declined across the board.
Meanwhile, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet discussed the wheat situation in the country and in the light of a briefing by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, decided to continue ban on export of wheat flour.
Moreover, in order to facilitate launch of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), the Securities and Exchange Policy Board approved amendments in the Exchange Traded Funds Regulations which have been revamped to add flexibility for fund managers to appoint separate intermediaries for performing the functions of market maker and authorized participant
On a positive front, IMF's Director Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour on Tuesday said Pakistan had showed impressive performance by carrying out economic reforms in accordance with the Extended Fund Facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On Monday, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan decided to maintain the benchmark interest rate at 13.25% for the next two months.
Furthermore, while addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Prime Minister's Advisor on Finance, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said that the government is considering privatization of National Bank of Pakistan and State Life Insurance for better results.
Similarly, in order to increase the production of petroleum commodities, a senior official of the Petroleum Ministry on Monday said that the government announced a 10-year tax exemption to increase the capacity for three oil refineries out of five, whose existing facilities were inefficient.
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