Sep 10, 2019: A top executive at the World Bank faces no opposition in her candidacy to lead the International Monetary Fund, the fund announced Monday.
Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria, currently the bank's chief executive officer, is all but guaranteed to replace former Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who has been named to lead the European Central Bank.
AFP/APP
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Feb 27, 2020 (MLN): Pak Rupee's Real Effective Exchange Rate Index (REER) increased by 0.91 percent in January 2020 to a provisional value of 96.59 from the revised value of 95.72 in December 2019.
According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the REER index has decreased by 1.04 percent compared to January 2019.
However, the Nominal Effective Exchange rate Index (NEER) decreased by 0.35 percent in January to a provisional value of 62.79 from the revised value of 63.01 in December. On a yearly basis, the NEER Index has decreased by 9.49 percent.
PKR closed January at 154.4878 against the USD having appreciated by 0.23 percent compared to its value in December 2019. However, Compared to January 2019 PKR has depreciated by by 11.76 percent.
REER is a measure of the value of a currency against a weighted average of several foreign currencies, an increase in REER implies that exports become more expensive and imports become cheaper therefore, this increase indicates a decline in trade competitiveness.
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February 27, 2020: Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s first and largest Islamic bank and Orient Electronics Private Limited, a leading manufacturer of home appliances have recently joined hands to streamline Transaction Banking Services for Orient Electronics.
Under this agreement, Meezan Bank, through the provision of its state-of-the-art online banking solution, named eBiz+, will enable Orient Electronics to fully automate its dealer collections and business payments. The partnership will create value for Orient Electronics by serving as an end-to-end transaction banking solution delivering efficiency, controls and operational excellence while ensuring world class cyber security standards.
The agreement was signed by Muhammad Abdullah Ahmed – Group Head, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Meezan Bank & Mian Talat Mahmood Fazal, Managing Director, Orient Electronics. Also present were M. Saqib Ashraf – Head of Transaction Banking, Meezan Bank and Mian Ahmad Fazal, Executive Director, Orient Group.
Mr. Muhammad Abdullah Ahmed, while speaking at the occasion said, “We at Meezan Bank take pride in the confidence demonstrated by Orient in Meezan Bank’s Transaction Banking services and technology. Our eBiz+ Transaction Banking system enables customers to automate their transactions while ensuring operational integrity resulting in business efficiency with utmost security.
Mr. Mian Talat Mahmood also commended the Bank for successfully launching Transaction Banking services and bringing forth operational integrity and efficiency in Orient Electronics’s collections and payment process.
Press Release
February 27, 2020: China will provide wider access to its markets and offer greater opportunities for foreign investment, the country's commerce ministry said Thursday.
The country will look to unveil more opening-up policies and measures, Zong Changqing, an official with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) told a news briefing.
Zong said the ministry would work with relevant departments to accelerate the revision of two negative lists for foreign investment market access in the pilot free trade zones and nationwide, and unveil the lists as soon as possible.
He said China would remain an important part of the global supply chain and industrial chain, and the impact of the novel corona-virus outbreak will only be temporary, noting there was no large-scale supply chain shift-away from the country.
While continuing to contain the epidemic outbreak, the country will increase support for foreign-funded enterprises to help them resume business, especially to industry leaders crucial for the global supply chain, and facilitate production resumption of foreign firms as well as their upstream and downstream firms in the auto and electronics sectors, Zong said.
With the world's largest and full-fledged manufacturing systems, China can provide a complete industrial chain that no other country can provide, and the country's importance to the global supply and industrial chains will remain unchanged, according to Li Xingqian, another MOC official.
Li said the industry chain would be further boosted as the effects of the country's foreign trade-supportive policies gradually filter through.
XINHUA/APP
Feb 27, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 4.30 Million or 0.02% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 18,742.80 Million on Feb 21, 2020.
According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) its reserves increased by USD 86.80 Million. However, reserves held by commercial banks declined by a further USD 91.10 million.
| Foreign reserves held by | Feb 21, 2020 | Feb 14, 2020 | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Bank of Pakistan | 12,591.50 | 12,504.70 | 86.80 | 0.69% |
| Net Foreign Reserves Held by Banks | 6,151.30 | 6,242.40 | -91.10 | -1.46% |
| Total Liquid Foreign Reserves | 18,742.80 | 18,747.10 | -4.30 | -0.02% |
Amount in USD Million
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February 27, 2020 (MLN): The KSE-100 index on Thursday became heavily exposed to the tension and anxiety surrounding the plague, the two cases of which were detected in the country earlier on Wednesday.
As a result, the benchmark index lost nearly 1,300 points in the initial hours of the session, but was quick to recover as the points lost came down to only 251 points, with the index ultimately closing at 38,087-mark.
The Index remained negative throughout the session touching an intraday low of 36,920.17
Of the 95 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 25 closed up 68 closed down, while 2 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 186.77 million shares.
Sector wise, the index was let down by Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 131 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 50 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 42 points, Automobile Assembler with 25 points and Insurance with 25 points.
The most points taken off the index was by PPL which stripped the index of 55 points followed by OGDC with 46 points, POL with 31 points, BAHL with 24 points and NESTLE with 24 points.
Sectors propping up the index were Commercial Banks with 62 points, Cement with 27 points, Textile Composite with 7 points, Automobile Parts & Accessories with 5 points and Engineering with 2 points.
The most points added to the index was by UBL which contributed 62 points followed by HBL with 30 points, MCB with 21 points, LUCK with 16 points and ENGRO with 16 points.
All Share Volume increased by 101.30 Million to 249.24 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.78.44 Billion.
Total companies traded were 361 compared to 348 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 103 closed up, 244 closed down while 14 remained unchanged.
Total trades increased by 27,025 to 89,455.
Value Traded increased by 3.05 Billion to Rs.10.00 Billion
| Company | Volume |
|---|---|
| Unity Foods | 29,428,000 |
| Hascol Petroleum | 17,535,500 |
| Maple Leaf Cement Factory | 15,068,000 |
| The Bank of Punjab | 14,609,000 |
| TRG Pakistan | 9,350,000 |
| D.G. Khan Cement Company | 7,408,500 |
| Pakistan International Airlines Corp | 6,302,000 |
| Fauji Foods | 6,167,500 |
| Pakistan International Bulk Terminal | 5,700,000 |
| Fauji Cement Company | 5,352,500 |
| Sector | Volume |
|---|---|
| Cement | 40,249,100 |
| Vanaspati & Allied Industries | 29,480,700 |
| Oil & Gas Marketing Companies | 29,152,000 |
| Commercial Banks | 26,236,100 |
| Technology & Communication | 18,843,400 |
| Transport | 12,008,100 |
| Chemical | 11,464,040 |
| Power Generation & Distribution | 10,890,000 |
| Oil & Gas Exploration Companies | 9,674,680 |
| Engineering | 9,277,500 |
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