News Desk |
Noor Financial divests another 0.28 percent share in Meezan Bank to foreign buyers. In a notification sent to the stock exchange on Tuesday by Meezan Bank said: “Noor Financial Investment Company (“Noor”) has successfully consummated the divestment/sale of 3,026,400 ordinary shares in Meezan, constituting a total of 0.28% of the total issued and paid-up capital of Meezan pursuant to which the Sale Shares have been acquired by various foreign institutional investors at a purchase price of PKR 70/- per share.
Textile industry awaits the disbursement of funds under the government’s export package. The Rs180 billion prime minister’s incentive package announced by former PM Nawaz Sharif has seen the State Bank of Pakistan processing only Rs50 billion worth of funds, however, the textile industry got only Rs18 billion. The textile sector which constitutes 57 percent of the country’s total exports and 8.5 percent of Pakistan’s total economy size.
Pakistan receives $4.4 billion from China in form of bilateral and commercial loans from its banks during first 10 months of FY18. Due to a slowdown in disbursements from bilateral as well as multilateral creditors, Pakistan’s sole reliance on China has risen as it received $1.2 billion commercial loan from Chinese banks. While for various development projects, China extended loans of $1.503 billion during July-April of FY 2017-18.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves plan to incorporate Islamic guidelines into its financial sector assessments. IMF provides a set of principles for “the regulation and supervision of the Islamic banking industry and are designed to take into consideration the specificities of Islamic banks” They noted that the Islamic finance has over $2 trillion of assets globally and is offered in over 60 countries, including Pakistan.
Forex & Gold – May 29, 2018
The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 118.20 the US Dollar in the open market.
Ali Jehangir Siddiqui resigns as chairman of JS Bank’s board of directors. The newly appointed Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States (US), Ali Jehangir Siddiqui has resigned as the director and chairman of the board of directors JS bank, after receiving criticism from opponents and diplomats. “Mr Ali Jehangir Siddiqui has resigned as Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of JS Bank Limited with immediate effect.”
Fertilizer sales including urea record strong growth during April as farmers sow Kharif crops. According to data released by the National Fertiliser Development Centre (NFDC), total fertilizer off-take in April recorded a 27 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth to 558,000 tons largely because of heavy urea off-take (375,000 tons).
Who will be the senior adviser to the executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)? Just two days before the government completes its tenure, a revised list has been announced for the post of executor director of the IMF. The three names proposed are:
- Ministry of Finance External Finance Additional Secretary Zafar Hasan
- Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch
- Punjab Finance Secretary Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh.
POL prices expected to increase by Rs5 to Rs7 per litre. As the price of crude oil in the global oil market increases, the government is likely to raise prices of petroleum products (POL) by up to Rs5 to Rs7 for the month of June 2018.
Water shortages discourage farmers to plant sugarcane. Water shortage during the early part of the Kharif season has risen to an alarming 45 percent from initial projections of 32 percent against average uses. As sugarcane crop compared to cotton requires two times more water consumption.
Food group imports increase by 2.32% The food group imports grew by 2.32 percent to $5.21 billion during first 10 months of the current fiscal year, products that witnessed an increase include milk, cream, tea, soyabean oil.