Year: 2021

Petroleum Division has announced a bidding round of 14 new blocks covering 24000 square kilometers (sq-km) for exploration of oil and gas, tweeted the Minister of Energy, Hammad Azhar.

The petroleum division hopes to tap a resource potential of 15 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) gas, 180 Million Barrel (MB) oil, $100 million investment, and $1.2 million in social welfare schemes, revealed the tweet from the minister.

The statement comes at a time when the government is struggling to manage the ongoing gas crisis. The authorities have accepted that the country is facing a severe gas shortage. However, they have assured that the government is trying its best to deal with the shortage.

Recently, the Prime Minister was briefed regarding the gas shortage in the country. The premier instructed the concerned authorities to take timely action and resolve the gas crisis. He also directed to facilitate gas exploration as it was the cheapest way of increasing gas supply.

In a previous press conference, Hammad Azhar had also told the media that the demand for gas was far higher than the production, and the demand also grew by three times during the winter.

Hammad Azhar also alerted the consumers that the imported LNG was too expensive and was causing a significant loss to the national exchequer. Therefore, the government would not be able to supply the expensive imported LNG for a long period.

To resolve the gas crisis, the cabinet committee on energy had made recommendations that are being implemented. The committee suggested increasing the gas capacity and the number of terminals as well. In addition, the cabinet committee directed the existing terminals to produce gas more efficiently and supply it to the sectors where it was required the most.

The committee had also noted that the gas reserves in the country were declining by 9 percent annually, and therefore, companies looking to increase gas production should be facilitated.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Sweden based Nutty Ventures AB have signed an MoU, committing to providing increased exposure to Pakistani startups in Sweden, creating tailor-based coaching opportunities for Pakistani startups, strengthening acceleration programs and creating opportunities for international Investors and Venture Capital funds to consider investing in Pakistani startups.

While speaking on the occasion, Punjab’s Provincial Minister for Higher Education & Information Technology Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz said, “Government of Punjab envisions technology as an engine of economic growth as IT is opening new frontiers every day. Our aim is to provide best-in-class coaching to startups, so they can compete at an international level for visibility and necessary funding for accelerating growth. I value this partnership because it will provide exciting opportunities to our local startups and will further strengthen PITB’s existing programs in entrepreneurship and freelancing domains”.

Chairman PITB Azfar Manzoor said, “Pakistani startups have made their mark in the global arena which is manifested through an increase of over 300 percent in funding raised by local startups during the last year.

In line with the vision of the government, PITB’s entrepreneurship and freelancing programs are not facilitating the youth of Punjab through incubation and skills development programs but are also helping them in creating the much-needed linkages with foreign investors and venture capitalists.”

It is worth mentioning that PITB is running a range of successful incubation and freelancing programs not only in Punjab but in other provinces as well. As a result of this partnership, all local startups will stand to benefit, he added.

Nutty Ventures AB, which is currently running a Sweden-wide accelerator program, has extensive experience and network in the Swedish startup, impact, and funding ecosystems. Its Founder and CEO, Mehkar Sheikh said, “Today, change is happening faster than at any other time in human history. We need bold new ideas, at an accelerated pace, cutting through the traditional hierarchies and structures. Nutty Ventures will leverage the power of global best practices to create meaningful impact for PITB-backed startups.”

Sweden is one of the leading countries in the world in innovation, startup activity, and more recently in impact. According to a recent report, Stockholm currently has the highest number of tech unicorns per capita in the world after Silicon Valley.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has shown serious concern over the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 tabled in the national assembly on Thursday.

A media release issued by the chamber said that the approval of the bill would hit the growth of many businesses and unleash a new wave of inflation across the country, putting an unbearable burden on the common man and causing a further slump in economic activities.

President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muhammad Shakeel Munir said the business community has been demanding the government to promote ease of doing business and introduce low tax rates to facilitate better growth of business activities that would help in the economic revival of the country.

Contrary to their demands, the government has introduced a mini-budget to withdraw sales tax exemptions worth billions of rupees on industrial machinery, pharma sector and imported food items that would increase the cost of production and further hike inflation.

He said that the mini-budget has proposed to increase the rates of federal excise duty, income tax and sales tax on services in the federal capital territory that would put more burden on the business community and affect business activities. He said the government has also imposed a 17 percent sales tax through min-budget on the mining sector that would increase production cost and affect exports of marble and granite products.

ICCI President said that the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 would raise the prices of many essential items including flour, edible oil, medicines, poultry products, infant food, other food items, mobile phones, personal computers, sewing machines, matchboxes, iodized salt and red chilies.

He added that this would happen at a time when inflationary pressures were already at record levels. He said that the withdrawal of exemptions and imposition of duties on raw materials would have a far-reaching impact on both industry and trade sectors and urged the government to withdraw the mini-budget in the larger economic interest of the country.

Senior Vice President ICCI Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh and Vice President ICCI Muhammad Faheem Khan in their remarks said that instead of generating additional tax revenue for the government, the mini-budget would promote smuggling and would lead to a negative impact on the local industrial and business activities.

They said with further erosion of their buying power, people would prefer to buy smuggled and cheaper items including mobile phones and this would keep Pakistan a tech backward country, which would be in sharp contrast with the government’s efforts of digitizing the economy. They urged the government to start consultation with the stakeholders to address the key challenges of the economy and withdraw the mini-budget.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) has bid farewell to 2021 by posting big gains against the US Dollar (USD) in the interbank market today. It appreciated Rs. 1 against the greenback after hitting an intra-day high of Rs. 176.45 against the latter during today’s open market session.

It also appreciated by 0.57 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 176.51 today after gaining 72 paisas and closing at 177.51 in the interbank market on Thursday, 30 December.

Today’s surge follows the highly contentious SBP Amendment Bill 2021 alongside the Supplementary Finance Bill 2021, both of which were tabled in the National Assembly on Thursday. Prior to the interbank wrap-up, experts were confident that regardless of the backlash they fetched, these bills could actually help the local unit end the year on a high.

Economic analyst A. A. H. Soomro told ProPakistani,

This was widely expected. Perhaps the timing had to collide with government tabling the bill at the last working day of the calendar year. The recent discount rate hike along with other mini budget measures, should clip the import numbers for next few months. Consequently, IMF’s board approval should pave way for further dollars to flow in. Hence, Rupee movement is expected to reflect the changing outlook on the dollar outflows.

The PKR had a volatile 2021. After starting the year at Rs. 159.83 against the USD, it has ended the year at Rs. 176.51 against the greenback, just two days after hitting rock-bottom (Rs. 178.24), causing fear and unrest to drive the local exchange rate sentiments. It also lost 10 percent value against the dollar in 2021 alone on a year-on-year calendar year (CY) basis.

The local unit notably depreciated nine times in 11 years against the USD. Since its previous upsurge during the CY 2016, it has plunged a whopping 69 percent from PKR. 104.5985 to PKR 176.5135 against the dollar.

Resultantly, the rupee-dollar parity could enter comfortable levels as the government seems ready to deploy extra measures to revamp the forex reserves in 2022.

According to the central bank’s weekly report that was released on Thursday, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves dropped by $359 million on 24 December to $24.2 billion. The SBP’s reserves fell by $298.4 million to $17.855 billion during the week under review as compared to $18.153 billion on 17 December.

Discussing the rupee’s near-term outlook earlier in the day, the former Treasury Head of Chase Manhattan Bank, Asad Rizvi, said, “Though Net Reserves with SBP fell by $298 million to $17.855 billion, but [the] presentation of SBP Amendment Bill in the National Assembly can support Rupee”.

Although the PKR managed to pull off an encouraging win against the dollar today, Rizvi did warn that the last day of the year could be volatile due to the squaring of positions, “and if [the] outflow is small, then PKR will further recover”.

The PKR continued its good run against the other major currencies as well and posted gains in the interbank currency market today. It posted gains of 74 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP) and Rs. 1.23 against the Euro (EUR).

The rupee also gained 27 paisas against both the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and the UAE Dirham (AED), and held out against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) in today’s interbank currency market.

Moreover, it appreciated against the Australian Dollar (AUD) and posted gains of 64 paisas as well.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended December 30, 2021, recorded a decrease of 0.50 percent, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The decline in SPI was due to a decrease in the prices of tomatoes (30.92 percent), potatoes (7.92 percent), chilies powder national 200 gm packet each (5.78 percent), onions (2.39 percent), LPG (1.59 percent), wheat flour bag 20 kg (0.42 percent) and pulse mash (0.22 percent).

According to the latest data, the SPI went down from 168.83 percent during the week ended December 23, 2021, to 167.98 percent during the week under review.

The year on year trend depicts an increase of 20.05 percent mainly due to an increase in electricity for Q1 (83.95 percent), LPG (68.30 percent), cooking oil 5 litre (59.06 percent), vegetable ghee 1 kg (55.71 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (55.24 percent), mustard oil (52.72 percent), gents sponge chappal (50.25 percent), washing soap (45.28 percent), gents sandal (44.49 percent), pulse masoor (36.08 percent), petrol (35.42 percent) and diesel (26.72 percent), while the major decrease was observed in the prices of tomatoes (39.55 percent), pulse moong (24.73 percent), onions (17.85 percent), eggs (9 percent) and potatoes (6.55 percent).

The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs. 17,733, Rs. 17,733 to Rs. 22,888, Rs. 22,889 to Rs. 29,517, Rs. 29,518 to Rs. 44,175 and for above Rs. 44,175 decreased by 0.80 percent, 0.72 percent, 0.61 percent, 0.54 percent and 0.40 percent respectively.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 22 (43.14 percent) items increased, 07 (13.72 percent) items decreased and 22 (43.14 percent) items remained stable, said the PBS in weekly SPI data.

The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices include bananas (3.19 percent), chicken (2.16 percent), tea prepared (2.05 percent), eggs (1.45 percent), pulse masoor (1.10 percent), vegetable ghee dalda/habib 2.5 kg tin each (0.87 percent), pulse gram (0.83 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.71 percent), sugar (0.64 percent), garlic (0.63 percent), sufi washing soap (0.62 percent), rice basmati broken (0.55 percent), powdered milk nido 390 gm polybag each (0.46 percent), mutton (0.39 percent), curd (0.30 percent), pulse moong (0.25 percent), mustard oil (0.24 percent), beef with bone (0.17 percent), firewood whole 40 kg (0.13 percent), cooked daal (0.06 percent), gur (0.03 percent) and cooking oil dalda or other similar brand (sn), 5 litre tin each (0.03 percent).

The commodities which prices remained unchanged during the period included bread plain (small size), milk fresh, vegetable ghee dalda/habib or other superior quality 1 kg pouch each, salt powdered (national/shan) 800 gm packet each, tea lipton yellow label, cooked beef, cigarettes capstan, long cloth 57" gul ahmed/al karam, shirting, lawn printed gul ahmed/al karam, georgette, gents sandal bata pair, gents sponge chappal bata, ladies sandal bata, electricity charges for q1 per unit, gas charges, energy saver, matchbox, petrol super, hi-speed diesel, telephone call charges and toilet soap lifebuoy.

Source: Pro Pakistani