A weekly review: PSX gains 630 points; Rupee appreciates by 10 paisa against dollar
U.S. dollar at interbank during the outgoing week dropped by 11 paisa.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed an upward trend in the outgoing week with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 630 points or 2% growth to settle at 32111 points, Dunya News reported on Saturday.
As per details, during the last three weeks the market increased by almost 8% gaining the confidence of investors.
A total of 153,277,640 shares were traded compared to the trade of 136,566,730 shares the previous day, whereas the value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs 5.821 billion compared to Rs 5.889 billion last day.
Dollar drops by 11 paisa
On the other hand, U.S. dollar at interbank during the outgoing week dropped by 11 paisa against Pakistani rupee.
Dollar at interbank closed at Rs156.08 while at open market it remained unchanged at Rs156.30.
Gold price decreases
Gold price during the outgoing week has declined by Rs 800 per tola and the price of glittering metal during this week ended at Rsd 87100 per tola.
Earlier, while acknowledging that “Pakistan’s economic program is off to a promising start”, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission said the near-term macroeconomic outlook was broadly unchanged from the time of the programme approval, with growth projected at 2.4 per cent in FY2019/20, inflation expected to decline in the coming months, and the current account adjusting more rapidly than anticipated.
Concluding its five-day Pakistan visit on a positive note, the IMF delegation, led by its director for Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour, said in a press release that the mission would return to Pakistan in late-October to formally conduct its first quarterly review of $6bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for the period ending this month.
“Pakistan’s economic program is off to a promising start, but decisive implementation is critical to pave the way for stronger and sustainable growth”, the IMF said.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, visited Islamabad and Karachi during September 16–20, 2019 to take stock of economic developments since the start of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and discuss progress in the implementation of economic policies. A full mission for the first review under the EFF, is planned for late-October. At the conclusion of the staff visit, Mr. Ramirez Rigo issued the following statement:
“While the authorities’ economic reform program is still in its early stages, there has been progress in some key areas. The transition to a market-determined exchange rate has started to deliver positive results on the external balance, exchange rate volatility has diminished, monetary policy is helping to control inflation, and the SBP has improved its foreign exchange buffers.
“There has been a significant improvement in tax revenue collections, with taxes showing double-digit growth net of exporters refunds. Moreover, the FBR is undertaking significant steps to improve tax administration and its interface with taxpayers. Staff and the authorities have analyzed the worse than expected fiscal results of FY2018/19, which were partially the result of one-off factors and should not jeopardize the ambitious fiscal targets for FY2019/20. Importantly, the social spending measures in the program have been implemented.
“The near-term macroeconomic outlook is broadly unchanged from the time of the program approval, with growth projected at 2.4 percent in FY2019/20, inflation expected to decline in the coming months, and the current account adjusting more rapidly than anticipated. However, domestic and international risks remain, and structural economic challenges persist. In this context, the authorities need to press ahead with their reform agenda.
“In order to complete the first review, an IMF staff team plans to return to Pakistan in late-October to assess the end-September program targets.
“The IMF team is grateful for the authorities’ hospitality and close cooperation.”
The mission visited Islamabad and Karachi during September 16 to 20 to take stock of economic developments since the start of the EFF and discussed progress in the implementation of economic policies.
