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Bilateral debt restructuring not under consideration: SBP governor

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  • SBP Governor Ahmad says restructuring not under consideration.
  • $0.4bn paid out of $3.6bn for this month, says Governor Ahmad.
  • Govt to decide appropriate time to issue Eurobond, governor adds.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad clarified Monday that Pakistan was not considering a bilateral debt restructuring that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had mentioned earlier.

“As of now there is no plan to enter into any debt restructuring. Absolutely no doubt about it. We are not considering any such plan; so there is no question of what will be the haircut,” he said during a briefing to analysts, according to The News.

After presenting the federal budget for FY2024, FinMin Dar said that the government was working on possibly restructuring its bilateral debt regardless of whether it completes its IMF review.

The SBP governor said most of the debt is bilateral and multilateral as they have paid large amounts of commercial debt and will pay Eurobonds when due, said Topline Securities, citing the governor.

The governor said that out of the total external repayment amount of $3.6 billion due this month, $0.4 billion has already been paid. The remaining balance of $2.3 billion will be rolled over, while $0.9 billion needs to be financed.

The total debt requirements for FY2024 will amount to approximately $23 billion, according to the SBP, which will be evenly distributed across four quarters.

In the next monetary policy statement, the SBP will come up with how to fund this depending upon IMF and other factors.

The governor highlighted that discussions are ongoing with IMF and hopeful that the review will conclude soon.

He expected that Rs1 trillion would be transferred to the government due to the profit earned by the SBP after retaining a specific portion during FY2024.

The SBP expects the current account deficit (CAD) for FY2023 will close to $3.5 billion (worst case $4 billion) due to policy induce import restrictions and available liquidity (exports and remittances).

The CAD for FY2024 will also be below $4 billion.

According to Ahmad, the government will decide the appropriate time to issue Eurobond, keeping market fundamentals and credit rating in mind.

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An investigation was “launched” into PTA’s inability to get Rs. 78 billion back from Telcos

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The PTA has reportedly been instructed to reply to NAB by July 29. According to the enquiry, the national exchequer has suffered losses as a result of the delay in collecting dues.

The PTA has been asked to provide NAB with information about any pertinent records, court proceedings, and overdue bills. The NAB Karachi has summoned the PTA officials to appear with all pertinent documentation.

All of the principle sum has to be paid by the LDI firms, according to sources. But due to judicial stay orders, the collection of dues has been impeded.

These sources further state that a steering group has been established by the Ministry of IT to supervise the issue of dues recovery.

In a previous event, the tariffs levied on importing cell phones from outside were clarified by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Contrary to what some internet reports claim, PTA clarified in response to recent news regarding the tariffs on mobile phone imports that there hasn’t been a formal decision to remove these levies in Pakistan.

the PTA.Pakistanis living abroad will be the only ones free from these levies, according to the PTA. A SIM card can be inserted and the phone restarted to temporarily register a device for non-PTA mobile subscribers.

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Weekly inflation in Pakistan increased by 0.17 percent.

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The SPI for the week under review in the aforementioned group was reported at 321.95 points, as opposed to 321.40 points during the previous week, according to the PBS statistics.

The SPI for the combined consumption group saw a 20.09 percent increase in the week under review compared to the same week the previous year.

The weekly SPI includes 51 necessary items for every spending group and 17 urban areas, with a base year of 2015–16 = 100.

The SPI for the lowest consumption category, which is up to Rs 17,732, grew by 0.08 percent from 311.97 points to 312.22 points this past week.

0.18 percent,The index of consumption for the lowest consumption groups, which are Rs 17,732-22,888, Rs 22,889-29,517, Rs 29,518-44,175 and above Rs 44,175; increased by 0.13 percent, 0.15 percent, 0.18 and 0.19 percent, respectively.

Nineteen (37.25%) of the fifty-one commodities had price increases over the week, eight (15.69%) had price decreases, and twenty-four (47.06%) had unchanged pricing.

On a weekly basis, the following commodities saw significant price decreases: tomatoes (9.19%), onions (2.14%), LPG (1.04%), bananas (0.53%), wheat flour (0.35%), potatoes (0.17%), pulse masoor (0.16%), and bread (0.05%).

Chicken (4.80%), garlic (2.01%), pulse gramme (1.87%), eggs (1.71%), beef (0.93%), gur (0.89%), pulse moong (0.84%), fresh milk (0.45%), firewood (0.23%), and cigarettes (0.12%) were among the items whose average prices increased significantly week over week.

The commodities that saw a year-over-year decline were: wheat flour (31.75%); cooking oil (13.44%); vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (10.42%); vegetable ghee 1 kg (9.85%); mustard oil (8.33%); eggs (5.82%); rice basmati broken (4.15%); and tea package (2.52%).

Gas prices for Q1 (570.00%), onions (96.01%), pulse gramme (40.39%), powered milk (39.11%), garlic (34.61%), pulse moong (29.77%), men’s sandals (25.01%), beef (23.52%), salt powder (23.28%), pulse mash (22.50%), and energy saver (17.96%) were among the commodities whose average prices increased year over year.

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The price of gold has drastically dropped in Pakistan.

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As per the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the cost of 24-karat gold per tola decreased by Rs 2,300, standing at Rs 250,500.

A kilogramme of 24-karat gold costing Rs1,972 less at the local market, making it worth Rs2114,763. Ten grammes of 22-karat gold had a price decrease to Rs196,866 as well.

After losing a significant $43 during the day, the rate per ounce of gold on the international market also decreased. It currently stands at $2,370.

On Thursday, the price of 24-karat silver also experienced a decline, falling by Rs60 to settle at Rs2,860 petal.

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