Role of women focused
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh assured a delegation of the Rawalpindi Women’s Chamber of full cooperation and expressed the desire to resolve the problems faced by women.
He called for the promotion of women entrepreneurs across the spectrum, which would enhance economic growth of the country.
Sheikh underlined that women constituted 52 percent of the country’s population and consequently a significant economic cost accrued by neglecting their empowerment, emancipation and participation in the workforce.
He suggested that the government and the authorities concerned should take necessary measures for the empowerment of women, especially those residing in rural areas.
FPCCI’s Chairman Coordination Mirza Abdul Rehman explained that Pakistan could not thrive unless it ensured equality of opportunity to all those in the workforce, irrespective of gender.
He observed that no country could develop economically and socially if 52 percent of its population was excluded from the economic and productive activities.
International monetary fund toughens stance on loan tranche release
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday conditioned the approval of the $1.2 billion loan tranche in late August with Pakistan’s ability to timely secure ‘adequate assurances’ from friendly countries for more loans to bridge financing gap, exposing Islamabad to demands by its bilateral creditors.
In a terse statement, Resident Representative of the IMF, Esther Perez, said that “with the increase in PDL (Petroleum Development Levy) on July 31, the last prior action for the combined 7th and 8th review has been met”.
The merger will pave the way for the release of nearly $1.2 billion tranche, as against the original schedule of the $2 billion.
But Esther remained short of giving a confirmed board meeting date due to what the IMF sees a gap against Pakistan’s gross external financing requirements.
Trade gap shrinks considerably
Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank nearly half in July 2022 to just $2.6 billion – the lowest gap in the past one and a half year – after the government’s clampdown on the outflow of dollars paid as dividends and the country saw over $3 billion reduction in import bill.
The steep reduction in imports in July compared to the preceding month should be a sigh of relief for the policymakers, who have been struggling on the one hand to calm down markets and on the other hand dealing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is increasingly getting tough on Pakistan.
The trade deficit came in at $2.64 billion in July, down by 47 percent, or $2.32 billion, on a month-onmonth basis, reported the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday. On a month-on-month basis, exports fell by onefourth to $2.2 billion in July 2022 over the preceding month, showing a dip of $700 million. The steep reduction in exports should be a concern for the Ministry of Commerce. But imports too decreased by 38 percent, or $3 billion, over the previous month.
Expatriates may open business account
After successfully connecting overseas Pakistanis to their homeland through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA), the central bank has now enabled business entities abroad with majority shareholding held by non-resident Pakistanis to open business value accounts in local banks to spend, invest and disinvest in the country.
State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) circulars said on Tuesday that foreign businesses having 51 percent or more shareholding held by non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) may open and operate business value accounts in both foreign currencies and Pakistani rupee in domestic banks. They can spend, invest and disinvest from “permissible securities, provided that the relevant laws/ regulations permit such investment.”
Carmakers may be forced to use domestic parts
The local manufacturing of auto parts can provide some relief from the rising tide of inflation. The government is expected to bind car producers through some regulations to increase the levels of localisation. At a corporate briefing, the management of Honda Atlas Cars (HCAR) disclosed efforts for localisation of different auto products and parts.
For example, Honda City has achieved a localisation level of 70 percent, Civic has achieved 60 percent and BR-V 50 percent, according to a report of AL Habib Capital Markets’ auto analyst Asad Ali. “However, in value terms, this number is reduced to 25 percent to 30 percent due to the absence of auto-grade steel industry and highend technology, which requires consistent policy and heavy investment.” As per Honda Atlas, they have localised all parts, which can be done in Pakistan.
Due to the lack of technology, the management indicated that all completely knocked down (CKD) parts cannot be localised, according to Aba Ali Habib Securities ’ auto analyst Ali Asif. For this, heavy investment is required, which the management is considering at the moment. HCAR announced a profit of Rs658 million for the first quarter (1QMY22), as compared to a profit of Rs928 million in the same period of last year.
ICT exports rise to $2.6 billion in fy2022
Information and communication technology (ICT) exports, including telecommunication, computer and information services, surged to $2.616 billion in financial year 2021-22, higher by 24.1 percent compared to $2.108 billion in 2020-21, according to a statement issued by the IT ministry.
In June 2022 alone, the ICT export remittances increased by $52 million to $235 million as compared to $183 million reported for May.
When compared with export remittances of $210 million in June last year, an increase of $25 million was observed. Net ICT exports for FY22 stood at $2.004 billion, which was 76.61 percent of the total ICT exports of $2.616 billion.
In the previous financial year, the net exports were $1.578 billion, constituting 74.86 percent of the total ICT exports of $2.108 billion.