Business

Pakistan to finalise IMF deal next month: Miftah Ismail

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Miftah Ismail says requested IMF to provide $2 billion additional funds.
Country expects around $5 billion from Fund, finance minister says.
Households not registered with BISP can message CNIC on 786, he says.

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail assured Saturday the government would reach the staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by next month — June.

Hopes of the IMF programme’s revival rose Thursday after the federal government decided to raise the price of petroleum products by Rs30 as the Fund did not resume the programme due to the subsidies provided on oil and power.

Miftah, addressing a press conference alongside Minister of State for Finance Ayesha Ghous Pasha, said the funds — under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) — would be released after final approval by the IMF board.

The minister said that Pakistan has requested the Fund — which has to provide $3 billion — to extend the program by one year and provide an additional $2 billion.

If the international money lender agrees to provide Pakistan with the additional amount, the country expects around $5 billion from the Fund, the finance minister said.

He said that the IMF programme was important not just because the country gets money from the Fund, but it plays an important role in opening ways for getting additional funds from other multilateral organisations — like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The finance minister said once the Fund releases the latest tranche, Pakistan would get money from multilateral organisations, noting that around $8.9 billion were already in pipeline from World Bank.

Minister defends petrol price hike

The minister justified the increase in petrol prices, saying that no doubt it would increase inflation, but if the hike had not been done, it would lead to sky-rocketing inflation as the burden would fall on the government and resultantly, it would devaluation of rupee further.

He said after increasing the prices of petrol, not only rupee was strengthened against the dollar by around 2.5, but the stock market also moved positively.

The minister said the government intended to provide relief to the poor against the inflationary pressure, which was created due to the “incompetency” of the previous government.

He said the government would try its best to provide maximum relief to the poor of the country.

He added that Saudi Arabia has already announced the extension of its $3 billion deposits to Pakistan and hinted that some more support was expected from that country the details of which would be shared in July.

The relief programme’s details

Giving details about the PM’s relief package, the minister said that the ‘Sasta Petrol and Sasta Diesel’ scheme would benefit around one-third population of the country by providing cash to 14 million households (84 million people).

Disbursement of Rs2,000 to each household would start from June, bringing the total relief amount to Rs28 billion in June. He said around 7.3 million recipients were already registered with Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

He said the BISP participants would be provided immediate relief or Rs2,000, whereas women heads of those households who are not registered should message their CNIC on 786 for registration for the program.

The finance minister shared that households having an income of less than Rs40,000 would be eligible for the relief. He said the relief scheme would be incorporated into the federal budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.

To a question on privatisation, the minister said there was no talk on privatisation with IMF this time.

However, he added, the country needed to privatise certain entities, including Discos and power companies for its own interest to reduce the burden on the national exchequer.

Business

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

Published

18 hours ago

Farwa

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.

Business

Weekly inflation in Pakistan increased by 0.17 percent.

Published

18 hours ago

Farwa

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.

Business

The price of gold has drastically dropped in Pakistan.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

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.