The Concerned Pakistani

10/08/2023

"When incompetence guides the government, economic disaster follows suit."

29/09/2022

With Mr. Dar assuming the power again as Finance Minister, let’s take a glance of the key indicators of Pakistani economy when he served at the same post formerly back in 2013 to 2018.

20/09/2022

Pakistani Rupee is in freefall for the 13th consecutive day! Today, during intra-day trading, the Pakistani Rupee neared the all-time high and was being traded at Rs. 239.94 against one US Dollar. According to Bloomberg, Pakistani Rupee lost its value by 8% and has become one of the worst performing currencies globally.

With inflation reaching all time high figures and country hit severely by the recent floods, the quick losing of Rupee’s value will certainly worsen economic pressures. Though Pakistan has received fund from IMF, but it still awaits investments and loans from friendly countries until then the economic situation may continue to deteriorate.

20/08/2022

Dollar rate is coming down and Petrol prices are declining worldwide but Inflation in Pakistan has hit ever Highest 42%.

What is experienced Team doing to cope up the issues they raised voices for in Previous Government?

16/08/2022

Over the course of just 4 months, the newly sworn in government is facing formidable challenges on fiscal front.

28/07/2022

Since the new government has sworn in, the Pakistani Rupee is in free fall and has lost almost Rs. 59 as of today. Political instability and delay from the IMF package are the key reasons behind Rupee's crash. Rapidly increasing inflation and decline macroeconomic indicators are signaling a clear threat to Pakistan’s economy.

14/07/2022

Global downturn or worsening local economic conditions? Pakistan’s second largest startup that raised largest funding to date recently announced to completely shut down its operations in Pakistan.

It should be noted that recently, a similar service Swvl; an app-based bus service also suspended offering its services in Pakistan. Meanwhile Careem is also reported to have halted their food-delivery service. Both companies have citied a similar reason i.e. global economic slowdown behind suspension of their services.

07/07/2022

A recipe for disaster? Are we heading towards serious economic trouble?

27/06/2022

According to the modified Finance Bill 2022, the FBR has cut the automobile capital value tax (CVT) from two to one percent.
The FBR plans to charge a tax on the capital value of some assets under the Finance Bill 2022. The value of assets will be taxed in 2022 at the rates specified in the capital value tax law. Vehicles registered in Pakistan with a value of more than PKR 5 million will be subject to capital gains taxes.

According to sources, a Finance Bill 2022 change has lowered the CVT from two percent to one.

24/06/2022

Aggravated by the devastating effects of rising import bill, sky-rocketing fuel prices and quickly depleting foreign reserves, the Pakistani economy is facing troubled times. The new government that sworn in just months before is struggling hard to stabilize the economy.

However, in a recent press conference by the Finance Minister, Mr. Miftah Ismail, the condition might become better in coming months. While stating that the government is aware of the difficulties that the public is facing, he added that to make the economy stable again, the government was left with no option besides to take bold and difficult decisions. With $2.3 billion coming from China and more from IMF, Miftah Ismail seemed confident that economy will stabilize in coming weeks.

Though, help from China and IMF may ease country’s economic burden, but it needs fundamental structural reforms. Weak institutions, low exports, ever increasing commodity prices coupled with high domestic demand will again lead the economy to doldrums unless carefully thought-out structural reforms are not introduced.

24/06/2022

According to the Travel and Tourism Development Index, 117 nations are included in the latest edition of the index for 2021. Travel and tourism sector sustainability and resilience are ranked based on a set of characteristics and regulations for each nation.
According to the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), Pakistan rose from 89th position in the previous index edition of 2019 to 83rd place in the newest edition of the worldwide travel and tourism competitive index titled "Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future."
With a six-point rise since 2019, Pakistan is now one of the nations in Asia Pacific that has had the greatest improvements in its rating since that year, according to PTDC CEO Aftab ur Rehman Rana.
He said that in the last two years, the federal and provincial governments have made significant progress in improving the performance of Pakistan's tourism sector by taking various steps to upgrade tourism services infrastructure, business environment, safety and security, health and hygiene, and socio-economic resilience.
There is still more to be done to improve the performance of Pakistan's tourist industry, which he believes has enormous potential to play a major part in the country's overall socioeconomic growth.

22/06/2022

An ECC meeting of the cabinet will be convened by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to authorize money to repair and maintain the minister's colony,
👉Rs1.22 billion payment admissible to the families of deceased/Shaheed families under the Prime Minister’s Assistance Package.
👉Rs5.69 billion would be added to the interior ministry's budget, while Rs3.93 billion will be used to cover the cost of a protest by a political party.
👉A Rs140 million grant for law enforcement authorities (LEAs),
👉Rs125.8 million extra funds for the cabinet division will also be authorized in the ECC.
👉The Petroleum Division's report on the termination of subsidies for the power sector's use of high-speed diesel will also be discussed at the ECC meeting.
👉An additional request from the Cabinet Division (Custom Duties and Payment of Clearing Agent) and a request from the Defence Division for payment of Rs40 million for the NCOC's media exposure campaign via a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) will be taken up by the ECC.

22/06/2022

The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 struck Afghanistan and Pakistan early Wednesday.
According to the USGS, the quake hit at a depth of 51 kilometers (44 miles) southeast of the city of Khost in Afghanistan.
It was reported that shaking was felt by 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC).
According to the country's disaster management agency, at least 155 people have been killed and more than 200 others wounded when a massive earthquake struck rural portions of southern Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
There were no immediate reports of damage or deaths in Pakistan.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/22/dozens-killed-as-6-1-magnitude-quake-shakes-afghanistan-pakistan

21/06/2022

The situation in Pakistan has been worsening for the past few months and the government is trying its best to cope with the situation.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are at critical level with less than 6 months of import cover remaining. Foreign reserves are required to save Pakistani Rupee which has touched 210 on Monday and this has become a matter of concern for the people of Pakistan as they have started facing inflation due to higher prices Daily.
The IMF has pledged to supply 6 billion USD under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to Pakistan during the period of 39 months in an agreement in July 2019 but only 3 billion USD has been received till the start of this year.
The current Government is trying everything possible to appease IMF. Government is expecting that after meeting all conditions, IMF will release 1 billion USD which will help the country to ease out the economic crisis.
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have yet to reach a staff level agreement on the country's annual program for fiscal year 2022-23, which is expected to be signed off by the end of this month. The IMF has reservations on 9.5 trillion expenditures projected for next fiscal year 2022-23.
Pakistan is in tight spot now and seeking help from the US to finalize the deal with IMF as soon as possible.

20/06/2022

Pakistani Rupee is continuously facing tough times. It has been battling the dollar from last two months, and apparently losing the hold. Since the new government sworn in, Pakistani Rupee has been in free-fall. The US Dollar has appreciated by Rs. 25 from April 10 which is a huge increase in this limited time span.

This free-fall of Pakistani Rupee was fueled today with the rumors that some commercial banks are probably running out of the foreign currency. On the other hand, the foreign reserves of SBP are also falling down to critically low levels and are depleting at a fast rate adding more to the woes of the Pakistani Rupee. The businessmen and experts are fearing that they might see a balance of payment crisis anytime soon if this chaotic situation continues to prevail and SBP fails to intervene.

Experts are of the view that this free-fall can only be slowed down let alone stopping or even reversing it once the IMF deal is finalized which. Such deal will not only improve the confidence of the market players but it will also add stability to shaking economic situation.

The USD/PKR Historical Data can be visualized at:
https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-pkr-historical-data

20/06/2022

According to the Forex Association, the most recent dollar rate in Pakistan on 20 June 2022 are PKR 211.00, which has been steadily rising since 11 June 2022.
See Details on
https://www.forex.pk/currency-inter.php?base=PKR&curr=USD

20/06/2022

In light of the ongoing energy crisis, the Punjab government has decided to close all markets at 9 p.m. effective today. Cafes, restaurants, Tandoors, clubs, and cinemas will, however, remain open until 11:30 p.m.

13/06/2022

On April 10, the last day of PTI led government, the Interbank US dollar rate against Pakistani rupee was Rs. 186.28 but as the new government sworn in, it fell to almost Rs. 182. However since then, it has continued to climb up. On May 22nd and June 7th, it touched Rs. 202 but on today i.e. June 13th, the US dollar has recorded its highest price ever of Rs. 204.

Unless the loans from IMF and China reach Pakistan, Pakistani Rupee will remain under pressure. It is feared that the freefall of Pakistani Rupee and the continuous increase in US Dollar rate will bring a storm of inflation. With imports increasing exponentially and slowing exports, the situation might get worsen in coming days until IMF-Pakistan deal is finalized.

The USD/PKR Historical Data can be visualized at:
https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-pkr-historical-data

10/06/2022

Ex President Pervez Musharraf is in critical condition and admitted in Hospital.

09/06/2022

The National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) and Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) made it to the top 500 universities of the world as per the rankings published by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) in their QS World University Rankings 2023 report.

According to the rankings released recently, NUST is now ranked at 334 in world and 74 in Asia, QAU is ranked at 363 in world and 91 in Asia and PIEAS is now ranked at 390 in world and 189 in Asia.

The top positions in Asia region rankings were grabbed by universities from Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Japan. Nine Indian universities also managed to make it to top 500 global rank list. The QS rankings are considered to be the most reliable and authentic classification alongside the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

More details can be seen at the following link:
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2023

07/06/2022

Internet Outage has been repaired by International Consortium. Internet services are working as normal in Pakistan.

07/06/2022

Govt. of Pakistan is considering to impose 30% Tax on All types of Online Earnings in coming Budget of year 2022-23.

07/06/2022

وَ رَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ

'اور ہم نے تمہاری خاطر تمہارا ذکر بلند کردیا۔'

05/06/2022

In an interview recently, the newly appointed SBP Governor, Dr. Murtaza Syed stated it boldly that in post covid-19 world, Pakistan has remained to be the best performing economy in the world. He further said that when covid-19 was shaking the whole world, Pakistan was handling it in the best possible way.

05/06/2022

The Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has allowed the SNGPL to hike the gas price by 45 percent or Rs266.58/mmbtu.

04/06/2022

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04/06/2022