Friday, July 21 2017

Fund managers weigh in on PSX performance, economic indicators
KARACHI: Concerns over Pakistan’s economic performance existed before as well, but the current political pressure has created doubts over the government’s ability and power to be able to handle the situation. However, changing macroeconomic variables need to be understood in context, said Mustafa Pasha, head of investments at Lakson Investments Limited during a panel discussion recently. Pasha was part of a panel organised by the CFA Society Pakistan to discuss the current economic situation and its impact on the country’s stock market that has seen all its gains of 2017 erode during the last one-and-a-half month. On Thursday too, the KSE-100 Index shed 358.78 points or 0.79% to end at 45,059.93, a significant retreat from the level seen at the end of May when it ended at a record high of 52,876.46 points.
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Foreign loans in 2016-17 recorded at historic high
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan obtained a record high $10.1 billion in foreign loans during 2016-17, as it looked to repay old debt and support foreign exchange reserves after the government’s failure to mobilise non-debt creating foreign inflows. About 37% or $3.9 billion of the total external borrowing came from China alone -Islamabad’s new lifeline. This includes $2.3 billion in commercial loans and another $1.6 billion under the bilateral economic assistance. The $10.1-billion loans that include a record breaking $4.4 billion short-term foreign commercial loans as well were obtained during fiscal year 2016-17 that ended on June 30, said sources in the Ministry of Finance.
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'PIA suffers a lot from open skies policy’
KARACHI: Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan said on Thursday Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had suffered a lot due to a “friendly open skies policy”. “No foreign country or foreign airline will be granted any additional rights without proper justification,” Khan said while speaking to participants of PIA’s Marketing Conference 2017, according to a PIA statement. PIA passengers can now check in online “PIA can only succeed with full support and joint efforts of all employees and they should take full ownership of their organisation,” he emphasised. However, there is a need to eradicate favouritism and promote merit in all spheres of the national flag carrier.
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Modern agriculture practices can help avoid losses: LCCI
LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has underlined the need for adopting modern technologies in the agriculture sector in an effort to avoid post-harvest losses and enhance crop production. In a statement issued on Thursday, LCCI President Abdul Basit, Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan stressed that Pakistan had extensive fertile land, but its agriculture sector was suffering because of various factors. Pakistan suffers annual crop losses of up to Rs55 billion “There is a dire need to add to the crop area as we cannot afford to stay where we are today in terms of crop area and per hectare yield because we are already running well short of per capita food availability,” they said.
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American SMEs looking to invest in Pakistan
FAISALABAD: America’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are trying to invest in Pakistan, giving entrepreneurs here an opportunity to launch joint ventures with them, reveals Stephen P Knode, Commercial Counsellor of the United States. “It will not only provide Pakistan entrepreneurs new technology and capital, but will also open new avenues for export of their products,” he said. Trade between Pakistan and America was increasing at a steady pace and exports from the latter stood at $2.1 billion in 2016 while its shipments in the first five months of current calendar year were worth $1.3 billion, Knode said during a meeting with business community at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) on Thursday.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators misc