Current Final

Category: Business

  • World Banks approves $600mn for Ehsaas program expansion

    World Banks approves $600mn for Ehsaas program expansion

    Executive Directors at the World Bank have approved $600 million for the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Program (CRISP) that will help the Pakistani government expand the Ehsaas Program. The Ehsaas Program is an initiative taken by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for poverty alleviation and to protect vulnerable households in Pakistan.

    Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of families across Pakistan face economic hardship, particularly workers in the informal sector.

    World Bank Country Director Najy Behassine, speaking about the project, said: “Such workers barely have savings to use in crises and they are not covered by existing social safety net program. This investment will enable Ehsaas program to develop a more efficient and adaptive social protection system for crises and resilience to future shocks.”

    As per details, CRISP will facilitate the Ehsaas social protection programs so that aid may reach informal workers, particularly women through an innovative approach. It will provide a platform through which the government can rapidly respond to support the most affected households during an economic crisis.

    “In the event of a crisis, a more flexible and dynamic social protection system can significantly reduce the time needed to respond to peoples’ needs as well as supporting a faster recovery,” said Amjad Zafar Khan, Task Team Leader for the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection program.

    CRISP will also improve the capacity of the social registry to maintain up-to-date accurate household data and exchange data among social programs while providing greater beneficiary choice in the biometric payment systems.

  • Pakistan likely to resume trade with India

    The ban on trade with India is likely to be lifted soon after the recent correspondence between Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

    PM Modi conveyed well wishes in a message to PM Imran after he tested positive for COVID-19. Later on Pakistan Resolution Day too Modi wrote a letter saying that India desired cordial relations with the people of Pakistan.

    Pakistan suspended trade with India in 2019 but recently imported life-saving drugs.

    The advisor to PM on commerce and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, while speaking to media said, “Since the recent thawing began, the prime minister is in isolation being COVID positive. I haven’t talked to him as I don’t want to disturb him. I sincerely hope that trade with India will start again. Trade should be separated from politics.”

    Last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while speaking at Islamabad Security Dialogue, also said, “It is time to bury the past and move forward.”

    On August 10, 2019, Pakistan imposed a trade ban on India after the escalation of violations on the Line of Control (LOC). In response, New Delhi withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status from Pakistan, also after the Pulwama incident.

    However, even before the suspension, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and India had been below $2 billion.

    Now, with improvement on the horizon between the two nuclear neighbours, Dawood also said that a decision on the import of cotton from India through land route is expected soon.

  • New pro-IMF State Bank law would leave country bankrupt, lead to Pakistan’s collapse: prominent economist

    Renowned economist Dr Kaiser Bengali has warned that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Ordinance, which is likely to be introduced soon, is anti-national and could lead to no accountability of central bank officials besides ultimately resulting “in the collapse of the country”.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, he said that the law would leave the federal government and subsequently the state paralysed.

    “There would be no money to pay salaries because the top priority would be paying back loans for which new loans will be sought,” Dr Bengali said.

    To a query by host Asma Shirazi, he said the law had no parallel in the modern world, however, a similar one dating back to the Ottoman Era played a key role in the downfall of the House of Osman.

    “They didn’t have any money to fight wars or deal with the rebellion after handing control of all the money to the central bank.”

    “This would dissolve Pakistan because there won’t even be enough money to pay the police,” Dr Bengali maintained, adding that it was a bleak picture.

    “The opposition alliance should put its other demands on hold and work towards stopping this legislation,” he concluded. The same was stated by him in a tweet as well.

    Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal also claimed the government was enacting such a law which would hand over the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) control to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions.

    Addressing a press conference, he said that with the new legislation, the SBP would not be accountable to the parliament, the prime minister or any institution of the country and it would only be answerable to the international institutions.

    He said National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) or any other institution would not be able to ask the SBP governor and other officials for any corruption.

    “If the prime minister of Pakistan can appear before NAB, then why can’t the SBP governor?” Ahsan said adding it was only to mortgage Pakistan’s economy with the international institutions.

  • Pakistan replaced by India, Iran as top trade partners of Afghanistan

    Pakistan replaced by India, Iran as top trade partners of Afghanistan

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are no longer leading trade partners. Strong Border restrictions on both sides and declining bilateral relations are the main reasons.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan used to have $2.5 billion worth of trade that has now declined to $1 billion, replacing Islamabad with New Delhi and Tehran as the biggest trade partners.

    In this regard, Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber (PAJC) former senior vice president Ziaul Haq Sarhadi said that the Torkham border crossing was open for 24 hours a day since 2019 to promote Pak-Afghanistan bilateral trade, but no significant progress was made.

    More than 832,000 containers of Afghan transit trade worth $33 billion used to pass through the Torkham border. However, a 30 per cent reduction in transit trade had been observed as it shifted to Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

    For years, Afghan traders are demanding that the process of clearing the Karachi port should be expedited. “The volume of trade annual shipments from Karachi to Afghanistan can be increased to 75,000 containers while the volume of bilateral trade can rise to Rs5 billion if their request is accepted,” Sarhadi said.

    Afghanistan also wants to access India through the Wagah border, but Pakistan cannot facilitate Afghanistan due to its official policy stance and strained relations between Islamabad and New Delhi.

    On the other hand, Pakistan wants free trade with the Central Asian Republics (CARs) through Afghanistan, but no agreement has been reached so far.

  • Boris Johnson warns UK could place France on ‘red list’

    Britain could soon place France on a travel “red list” and tighten border controls due to the risk of a new coronavirus variant, Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

    France is expanding lockdown due to the rising number of cases after the third wave hit the country.

    The South African and Brazilian variants of the virus prevalent in France are potentially more transmissible, which has caused particular concern.

    United Kingdom’s (UK) Senior Members of Parliament (MPs) asked why France was not on the British’s travel “red list”, to which Johnson said that it was “something we will have to look” at while warning it “would cause disruption, particularly to cross-Channel trade”.

    Placing the country on a red list means barring travellers from entering the UK unless they are British or Irish nationals or have residence rights.

    Johnson acknowledged that “we have to look at the situation at the Channel”.

    “We can’t rule out tougher measures, and we will put them in if necessary,” he said.

    Many lorry drivers were entering the UK and, when MPs raised their concerns, Johnson said that the government has to mitigate the balance of risks. It will cause “serious disruption” to the flow of goods such as food and medicine.

    England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam have also reportedly put pressure on Johnson to bring in stricter border controls.

    France is expanding its lockdown due to the rising number of cases after the third wave hit the country.

    When senior members of the Parliament (MPs) asked why France was not on the UK travel “red list”, Johson said that this is “something we will have to look at” while warning it “would cause disruption, particularly to cross-Channel trade.”

    Placing the country on a red list means barring travellers from entering the United Kingdom (UK) unless they are British or Irish nationals or have residence rights.

    Johnson acknowledged that “we have to look at the situation at the Channel. We can’t rule out tougher measures, and we will put them in if necessary,” he said.

    Many lorry drivers were entering the UK and when the MPs raised their concerns, Johson said that the government have to mitigate the balance of risks. It will cause “serious disruption” to the flow of goods such as food and medicine.

    England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam have reportedly put pressure on Johnson to bring in stricter border controls.

  • Roshan Digital Account attracts $671m in six months

    Roshan Digital Account attracts $671m in six months

    More than 100,000 Overseas Pakistanis have created accounts on the Roshan Digital Account (RDA), attracting almost $671 million, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced.

    As per details, overseas Pakistanis from almost 100 countries have opened accounts which indicates the increasing reach of the RDA, helping the government and the central bank to improve the external account of the country.

    Overseas Pakistanis have been providing large amounts of foreign exchange in terms of remittances and now the RDA has attracted $671m. At the same time, long-term domestic Pakistan Investment Bonds attracted $150m foreign investment over the past four months.

    The State Bank said that half of the total deposits of $671m came over the last eight weeks, reflecting the growing interest of Pakistanis abroad.

    The purpose of the RDA is to attract millions of Pakistanis living abroad by giving them high returns on deposits in comparison to developed economies. Besides, they can also remotely open bank accounts in Pakistan through online digital portals without physically visiting branches.

    Non-resident Pakistanis (NRP) can now avail digital banking facilities, including access to online banking, domestic funds transfer, utility bills and tuition fee payment in Pakistan, as well as investments in the stock exchange and real estate with an option of full repatriation.

    On September 10, 2020, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan inaugurated the project and appreciated the joint venture between the federal government, SBP and commercial banks operating in Pakistan.

  • US bars Turkey from delivering combat helicopters to Pakistan

    US bars Turkey from delivering combat helicopters to Pakistan

    The United States (US) of America has blocked the supply of 30 Turkish-made ATAK helicopters to Pakistan, as per the statement by Ibrahim Kalin, Press Secretary to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

    “The move is made to create pressure to stop Turkey from buying the Russian S-400 missile system, but the tender is likely to go to China,” he added.

    He further said that “The United States has blocked our planned sale of combat helicopters to Pakistan. This will likely lead to the fact that the tender in question will go to China, and the losers will be the United States.”

    Kalin revealed that Turkey had bought the Russian S-400 because America had refused to supply Patriot air defense systems to Ankara on favorable terms.

    The value of this contract is nearly $1.5 billion, and this contract was the largest one-time supply defence deal in history. Pakistan and Turkey had signed a deal for the supply of 30 ATAK helicopters in 2018.

    However, the move to block the supply of American weapons to Turkey has delayed the implementation of the contract as ATAK helicopters use 800-4A engines manufactured by the American company LHTEC.

    As a counter move, Turkey has announced that it will develop its helicopter engines, and has decided to continue the S-400 purchase from Russia.

  • Surprisingly high profitability in corporate sector despite pandemic

    Surprisingly high profitability in corporate sector despite pandemic

    The results for corporate profitability are pleasantly surprising as the aggregate profitability shown by listed companies amounted to Rs 213.9 billion.

    The year-on-year growth rate for the recent quarter is 38 per cent. In sector-wise profitability: commercial banks have contributed to the highest sum of Rs48 billion earning in the quarter.

    The oil and gas exploration and production sector also yields the highest profits and contributed Rs41bn tax for the quarter.

    Furthermore, the sector that has reported surprising growth in profit is technology and communications. Put together the total earnings are Rs5.9bn, which is 27.6 times higher from Rs207m in the same quarter of 2019.

    Software companies like Avanceon Ltd, Systems Ltd, TRG Pakistan and Netsol Technologies saw their share prices grow during the year.

    TRG Pakistan shares were at Rs12.87 on March 25, 2020. It is now trading at Rs143, which is 11 times higher in one year. Netsol Technologies surged from Rs27.16 a share to Rs285, up ten times in one year.

    Analysts said that technology companies even in the United States (US) challenged the worst economic downturn and reported robust financial growth during the pandemic.

    Engineering sectors mainly comprising steel companies also outperformed most sectors with earnings of Rs5.1bn, recording a growth of 18.7 times from Rs257m a year ago.

    The Cement sector has benefitted from the government’s great incentives to the construction industry. They have reported 570 per cent growth, a total profit of Rs11.7bn which was Rs1.7bn in 2019.

    “The strong corporate profitability provides strong support to the market and should be a key driver for the KSE-100 index once political noise dies down,” said Raza Jafri, head of equities at Intermarket Securities.

    The food sector’s earnings were satisfactory but were dragged down by the poor profitability of FrieslandCampina Engro.

  • ‘Govt to launch dozens of five-star hotels, motels,’ say Zulfi Bukhari

    ‘Govt to launch dozens of five-star hotels, motels,’ say Zulfi Bukhari

    Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari has said that the government plans to launch dozens of five-star international standard hotels and motels in the coming two to three years.

    Bukhari, who also serves as the Chairman of the National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB), has announced that Pakistan will get 25 to 30 international standard hotels because tourism is a priority of the present government.

    He further said that an e-portal for tourism updates like hotels ratings, weather, traffic, and other information regarding tourist destinations will also be developed by the government.

    Furthermore, a National Tourism Strategy from 2020 to 2030 has been devised, and a five-year action plan (2020-25) has also been introduced.

    Bukhari further said that the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) now works as a coordination body for the government.

    He asserted that to boost the tourism industry, the country needs better hotels, transportation, amenities, improvement of infrastructure and security situation.

  • Biden nominates Pakistani-American as Deputy Administrator of Small Business Administration

    Biden nominates Pakistani-American as Deputy Administrator of Small Business Administration

    President of the United State (US) Joe Biden has nominated Dilawar Syed to serve as the Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).

    Sharing the news on social media, the Pakistani-American said that he is humbled and honoured by President Biden’s nomination.

    “If confirmed by the US Senate, I will put my heart and soul into helping small businesses everywhere in these challenging times. Their grit makes America strong,” wrote Syed.

    Syed is currently serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Lumiata, an artificial intelligence (AI) for a healthcare company that is focused on reducing healthcare costs and improving outcomes of medical processes.

    “Syed has driven civic efforts at the federal, state, and local level focusing on economic growth and entrepreneurship,” read a statement by the White House.

    Syed immigrated to the US from Pakistan as a freshman student to attend The College of Wooster in Ohio. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.