Weekly News Roundup

June 14, 2020 (MLN): The highlight of the departed week was the announcement of budget for the FY21, in which the government has provided some reprieve in order to battle the Coronavirus, while also imposing a few new penalties.

Economic analysts have offered mixed reactions to the FY21 budget, with most uttering dissatisfaction and a lack of gusto, while others viewed it as "business friendly" budget.

Apart from this, the other 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:

On Friday, Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Chaudhry announced that Pakistan’s first COVID testing kit has been approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Thursday imposed fine amounting to Rs 40 million on six Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for not maintaining the required fuel stocks as per terms and conditions of the licenses awarded to them.

On energy front, a major developer of wind energy in Pakistan, ACT Wind (Pvt) Limited, signed a contract with Xinjiang Goldwind Science Technology Co., Ltd. to acquire 50MW suite of wind turbine for the Phase II ACT project. The suite is comprised of 20 turbines with each having a capacity of 2.5MW.

On Wednesday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $500 million loan to help the government of Pakistan deliver social protection programs to the poor and vulnerable, expand health sector capabilities, and deliver a pro-poor fiscal stimulus to boost growth and create jobs as the country fights the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Meanwhile, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Reza Baqir informed that so far a total of 1320 companies have availed SBP’s refinance scheme and a sum of Rs96 billion has been disbursed to the applicants during April, May and June 2020 under the said scheme which was launched to limit the adverse impact of the COVID-19 on businesses and employment in terms of payments of wages/salaries to workers/employees.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved technical supplementary grants of billions of rupees for various ministries and division.

On Tuesday, Pakistan had been officially included in the group of countries that will be entitled to debt relief as part of the G20 debt relief deal.

on Monday, Germany agreed to provide technical assistance worth four million Euros to Pakistan for the project titled 'Promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Concepts in Cities and Industries.

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