May 10, 2024 (MLN): Considering the risks to inflation and the criticality of re-anchoring expectations to the SBP’s medium-term inflation objective, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff welcomed Pakistan’s decision to keep policy rates on hold and underscored the need to continue a tight monetary stance, IMF said in its second and final review report published today. The fund additionally stated that by adhering to a tight monetary policy, the central bank would effectively embed disinflation and exhibit that the monetary policy framework is well-sui ..read more

May 20, 2024 (MLN): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked for continued timely gas tariff determinations and notifications within their required 40-day window, while protecting vulnerable households, starting with the June 2024 semiannual adjustment. The Fund said that these are critical to preventing further Circular Debt (CD) flow. After some delays, the resumption of gas tariff adjustments in line with cost recovery has contributed to a modest decline in natural gas CD, to Rs2,083 billion (2% of GDP) as of January 2024. Price adjustments should continue to move toward the fu ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): There are risks of shortfalls in tax revenue in April and May 2024 due to holidays that will see port closures and weigh on revenue collection, policy discussions from the second and final International Monetary Fund (IMF) review report show. The government has agreed on contingency revenue measures with the IMF if revenue falls short of target. “Agreed contingency measures will be adopted should collections fall short,” it said. Additional efforts are also needed to meet the SBA’s revenue administration goals. Efforts to collect additional revenue from retailers ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan's overall performance against end-December Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPCs), Indicative Targets (ITs), and Structural Benchmarks (SBs) under the Standby Arrangement was satisfactory, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in the second and final review report published. Pakistan met all seven QPCs for end-December 2023. Floors on: Net international reserves of the SBP Targeted cash transfers pending Ceilings on: Net domestic assets of the SBP The SBP’s FX swap/forward book Net government budgetary borrowing from the SBP The general government p ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb said government is working on issuing domestic green sukuk bonds by December 2024. According to a press release issued by the Finance Division on Friday, these bonds will be utilized to finance sustainable development projects, Aurangzeb said. The Finance Minister made these remarks during his keynote speech at the UK-Pakistan Green Investment Forum, organised by the British High Commission in Pakistan. Copyright Mettis Link News Posted on: 2024-05-10T19:02:14+05:00 The post Pakistan plans to issue green Suku ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration sector has failed to sustain its tale of financial success as industry players witnessed a major drop in earnings due to a negative shift in exchange income during the first quarter of 2024. The unconsolidated earnings for the quarter clocked in at Rs101.93 billion, significantly down by 21.71% YoY, equivalent to Rs28.26bn compared to the profit of Rs130.19bn incurred in the same quarter last year. The industry leader, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) experienced the highest profit drop with net ea ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): The net purchase of securities for the week ended May 03, 2024 clocked in at Rs8.12bn, as compared to a net purchase worth Rs591.29m recorded last week, according to a weekly report on Specially Convertible Rupee Accounts (SCRA) released by the State Bank of Pakistan. To note, foreign investors have remained net buyers for the tenth consecutive week. During the week, the gross sale of securities was recorded at Rs11.39bn, which is around 364.35% higher than the figures recorded last week. Similarly, the total purchase of securities stood at Rs19.51bn, which is 540.96% high ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan stocks witnessed a bullish momentum on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index closing above the 73,000 level, a new record high. The 100-index gained 427.45 points or 0.59% DoD and closed at 73,085.5. The KSE-100 index remained positive throughout the session, with most of the buying occurring in the first half, hitting an intraday high of 73,449.38 (+791.32). However, in the second half of the session, profit-taking erased some of the gains, with the index hitting an intraday low of 72,876.84 (+218.79) points before closing at ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): Secure Logistics Group Limited (PSX: SLGL) revealed its profitability for the year ended December 2023, wherein the profit after tax rose 26.4% YoY to Rs368 million [EPS: Rs2.21]. This compares with a profit of Rs291.13m [EPS: Rs1.75] in the previous year. Going by the results, the company's top line grew by 22.5% YoY to Rs2.04bn as compared to Rs1.67bn in 2022. The cost of sales rose by 12.2% YoY but was lesser than proportionate to sales rise, which improved the gross profit by 41.3% YoY to Rs835.97m in 2023. The gross margins improved to 40.88% as compared to ..read more

May 10, 2024 (MLN): The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) conducted an auction on Thursday for the sale of Government of Pakistan Ijara Sukuk (GIS) bonds, raising Rs106.25 billion against the Rs100bn target set for GIS Variable Rental Rate (VRR) and GIS Fixed Rental Rate (FRR) and GIS FRD. According to the details made available by the local bourse, the bids received stood at Rs303.66bn, out of which Rs57.23bn were received for GIS FRD, Rs246.15bn for GIS VRR and Rs275.4m for GIS FRR, respectively. From the aggregate bids received for the 1-year GIS FRD, a sum of Rs54.59bn was accepted ..read more