Amidst a backdrop of jubilant celebrations, spirited slogans and heartfelt prayers, the nation celebrated 76 years of Pakistan’s independence on Monday, 14th August. Streets and national monuments across the country were crowded with citizens dressed in vibrant hues of green and white. The break of dawn was heralded by a resonant 31-gun salute in Islamabad, accompanied by a 21-gun salute in the provincial capitals. Later, prayers were offered for the peace and prosperity of the country. A number of ceremonies were also held in several cities to commemorate Independence Day.
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Pakistanis celebrate 76 years of independence
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PIA placed on privatisation list
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The Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) on 7th August, approved to place Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on an active list of privatisations following an amendment approved by Parliament and also granted its assent to hire Financial Adviser for transaction of PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel, New York. According to top official sources, the PIA was converted from a corporation into a public limited company registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984. So the legislative process was undertaken in 2016 through the Joint Session of Parliament passed PIAC (Conversion) Act, 2016, whereby, PIAC was converted into a public limited company, namely Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).
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The supply of cotton by farmers for processing in ginning factories has increased sharply, rekindling hopes that overall production this season will exceed 10 million bales following dismal harvests over the past few years. The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association reported that by August 1, 2023, around 1.428 million bales had reached factories across Pakistan. The latest numbers released by the association showed a 66.5% year-on-year rise in supplies from farms. Cotton arrivals at ginning units in Punjab rose around 95% when compared with the arrivals last year. The province has so far managed to produce 388,568 bales of cotton. Sindh also recorded a significant increase of 57.8% in cotton arrivals at the beginning of August and produced 1.04 million bales. Pakistan is a major cotton producing nation but the harvest of this vital crop has plunged in recent years as farmers switched over to other crops. Despite efforts, the country has failed to ramp up the production of cotton, which is a basic raw material for textile products. For the current year, the cotton crop target has been set at 12.77 million bales. For this purpose, 6.834 million acres of land has been cultivated across the country.
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Cotton supply from farms soars 66.5%
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Pakistan, Iran eye $5bn trade under five-year plan
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Pakistan and Iran announced that they would keep their common borders “a border of peace and friendship”, as both sides have mutual interest in a peaceful stable neighborhood. Economic cooperation was high on the agenda of discussions which saw both sides taking steps for durable economic cooperation and setting a target of $5 billion for bilateral trade through a five-year trade cooperation plan to enhance cooperation. These assurances were made by the visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at a joint press conference at the Foreign Office after delegation-level talks. These wide-ranging discussions were focused upon all aspects of bilateral relations and the emerging regional situation.
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After remaining inoperative for more than a year, the 969-meg¬awatt Neelum-Jhelum Hydrop-ower Project has resumed power generation following the restoration of its tail race tunnel, on 9th August. The project envisages diverting the Neelum river from Nauseri village through an underground tunnels system with its outfall into the Jhelum river. The project, comprising four units of 242.25MW capacity each, started generating power after its first unit was commissioned in April 2018. The project attained its maximum installed generation in August the same year with the commissioning of all four units. However, the power generation stopped in July last year due to a blockage caused by the collapse of a part of its tail race tunnel. Before the suspension, the project had injected more than 18 billion units of electricity into the national grid, according to a statement by Wapda. On 9th August, Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah pressed a button to mark the resumption of electricity generation from the project.
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Neelum-Jhelum project resumes power generation after year-long hiatus
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Outsourcing cargo operations at Karachi port: Panel to negotiate deal between UAE firm, KPT
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The government has constituted a committee to negotiate and frame a commercial agreement between AD Ports UAE and KPT for outsourcing the operations of bulk and general cargo at East Wharf Karachi Port. According to official sources, the government approved 12 bases for price determination mechanism for outsourcing of port, which included terms of the agreement, the life span of the terminal, max capacity to handle cargo, length of quay wall, royalty (per ton or fixed or gross revenue basis), land rent per square metre in bonded area, storage charges, dock labour charges, up-front payment (adjustable), up-front payment (non-adjustable) and quantum and type of investment.
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Amid expectations of further deceleration in average inflation to 20-22 per cent with an economic growth projection of 2-3pc for FY24, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has left its policy rate unchanged at 22pc for next two months. SBP Governor Jameel Ahmed announced the decision at a press conference on 31st July. Most of the analysts were expecting no change in the interest rate which is too high and hampering economic activities. The MPC at its regular meeting held on June 12 left the interest rate steady at 21pc but surprised the market with a 100 basis points hike to 22pc in an unusual meeting on June 26. It is believed the rate increase was an outcome of the IMF demand just before reaching a staff-level agreement (SLA) for securing a short-term $3bn Stand-By Arrangement. Mr Jameel said the economic uncertainty had decreased since the last MPC meeting, whereas near-term external sector challenges had largely been addressed which improved investor confidence. In the Monetary Policy Statement, the MPC projected average inflation in the range of 20-22pc in FY24, down from 29.2pc in FY23.
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SBP keeps policy rate steady at 22pc
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Exports dip 9pc in July, record 11th straight fall
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Merchandise exports fell for the 11th month in a row in July, plunging by 8.6 per cent year-on-year to $2.05 billion, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The export proceeds are declining because of internal and external factors stoking up fears about the closure of industrial units, especially textile and clothing. On a month-on-month basis, the export proceeds declined 12.68pc in July. In FY23, the merchandise exports dipped by 12.71pc to $27.54bn from $31.78bn in FY22, missing the $32bn target by a wide margin of $4.46bn. The government has projected an export target of $30bn for the current fiscal year. Throughout the entire FY23, there was a conspicuous absence of any statements or meetings within the commerce ministry to address the causes behind the decline in exports and propose solutions to assist exporters. At the same time, imports also plunged by 26.44pc to $3.66bn in July from $4.98bn in the corresponding month last year. On a month-on-month basis, the imports declined by 13.15pc. The imports fell 31pc to $55.29bn in FY23 from $80.13bn in FY22. The government has projected an import target of $58.69bn for FY24 against $55.29bn in FY23, an increase of $3.4bn or 8.14pc. The government has now relaxed the import restrictions and announced that the State Bank of Pakistan will not use any measures to slow down or restrict the opening of letters of credit (LCs) from July 1. This was also one of the conditions before reaching a Staff-Level Agreement with the IMF for a nine-month $3bn Stand-By Arrangement.
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US President’s Adviser Shahid Ahmed Khan has said that the US has been a leading investor in Pakistan for the past 20 years and in the most recent fiscal year, its direct investment increased 50%, reaching the highest in over a decade. He invited a delegation from China and Pakistan to a trip to the US for exploring new business ideas and investment opportunities as well as assured them of his embassy’s full support. The US president’s aide was speaking during a visit to the Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) where he discussed trilateral relations between the US, Pakistan and China.
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US investment hits decade high
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Saudi Arabia, UAE likely to invest $46b in Pakistan’s mineral, mining sector: Musadiq
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Minister of State for Petroleum Musadiq Malik has said that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE have indicated to invest $46 billion in the country’s mineral and mining sector worth 6.1 trillion dollars. Pakistan will establish a global standard regulator for the mineral and mining sector, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadiq Malik announced here while briefing the media regarding ‘Pakistan Minerals Summit – Dust to Development Investment Opportunities in Pakistan’. The minister said that Saudi Arabia and UAE have indicated an investment of $24 billion and $22 billion respectively in the country’s mine and mineral sector.
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said Pakistan and China are entering the second phase of CPEC now, which will feature B2B investment in agriculture and information technology to enable Pakistan to export its products according to the Chinese standards and requirements. He was speaking at a ceremony, held at the Prime Minister’s House for the signing of six important documents between the two countries, in the presence of Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng. “Today we can claim that under CPEC, more than $25 billion investment took place in power, road, hydel power and public transport. Today, we signed certain important documents, which will further enhance cooperation and help begin the second phase of CPEC under a new model,” the prime minister said. Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, along with a delegation, visited Islamabad to attend the 10th-anniversary celebrations of CPEC. The two countries signed six documents on the Joint Cooperation Committee on CPEC.
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Pakistan, China sign six accords for CPEC phase-II
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