Inflation eased
to 3.81pc in November:
Annual
inflation fell to 3.81 per cent in November from 4.21pc in the preceding month
on the back of decline in perishable food prices, the Pakistan Bureau of
Statistics said on Thursday.The main inflation measured by Consumer Price Index
(CPI) has been on rise since August 2016. The index rose 0.2pc month-on-month
in November as compared to 0.8pc in October and 0.6pc in November 2015.CPI
tracks prices of nearly 500 commodities every month across the country.Annual
inflation target was projected at 6pc for the year 2016-17. In the previous
fiscal year, average annual inflation was recorded at 2.86pc.Average annual
inflation in the first five months of this fiscal year — July to Nov — stood at
3.92pc as against 1.86pc in the same period of the fiscal year 2015-16 and
6.45pc in 2014-15.
OPEC in first
joint oil cut with Russia since 2001, Saudis take 'big hit'
Opec
has agreed its first oil output cuts since 2008 after Saudi Arabia accepted
"a big hit" on its production and dropped its demand on arch-rival
Iran to slash output, pushing up crude prices by around 10 per
cent.Fast-growing producer Iraq also agreed to curtail its booming output,
while non-OPEC Russia will join output cuts for the first time in 15 years to
help the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries prop up oil
prices."Opec has proved to the sceptics that it is not dead. The move will
speed up market re-balancing and erosion of the global oil glut," said
OPEC watcher Amrita Sen from consultancy Energy Aspects.The cut did not come
without a casualty, however. Indonesia, the producer group's only East Asian
member, said it would suspend its membership after rejoining only this year as
it was not willing to comply with the output cuts sought.
Trade regime with
Delhi unchanged: Dastgir
The
government hasn’t changed trade regime with India despite strains in the
relationship between the two countries, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir told
Senate Standing Committee on Textile Industry on Thursday.He was speaking in
response to the issue raised by chairman of the committee Senator Mohsin Aziz
that a huge quantity of raw cotton has been stopped at the Karachi port. The
minister said the government has not issued any notification in this
regard.However, Mr Dastgir said the government has put restriction of importing
500,000 cotton bales in a year through Wagah border while there was not any
such restriction on Karachi port.Mr Aziz said the government should instead ban
value-added products from the neighbouring country in a bid to protect the
local textile industry.
Pakistan Steel
Mills directed to sell inventory to settle debt:
The
government on Thursday directed Pakistan Steel Mills’ (PSM) management to
partly settle its domestic liabilities by selling the inventory while also
seeking a government-owned bank’s support to settle payments to foreign
creditors.Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gave these directives during a meeting
held in Islamabad. Sources said Privatisation Commission Chairman Mohammad
Zubair raised the issue of outstanding liabilities of foreign and local
creditors in the sitting.
Fossil fuels:
Crude oil production reaches record high of 100,000 bpd:
Pakistan
has produced a record high 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil recently
after oil and gas exploration companies expedited efforts to find new deposits
of hydrocarbons to increase their share in local consumption.“Oil production is
meeting 20% of local demand,” said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Federal Minister for
Petroleum and Natural Resources.The remainder 80% demand is met through
imported crude oil and finished petroleum products.Local production was
reportedly hovering below 90,000 bpd in November. This was standing at 87,000
bpd in the previous fiscal year ended June 30, 2016 and 95,000 bpd in the year
before. The decline in production in fiscal year 2015-16 (FY16) was seen after
oil producing firms put on hold their projects under the then prevailing steep
low oil prices in the world market.
Pak-China direct
rail and sea freight service launched:
China
and Pakistan have launched direct rail and sea freight service, linking
southwest China's inland Yunnan province and Pakistan's largest port of
Karachi, Chinese state-run media reported on Thursday.The freight line will cut
transport cost by over 50 percent compared with past services, Xinhua news said
in a report.A cargo train loaded with 500 tonnes of commodities left Kunming,
capital of Yunnan, for Karachi on Wednesday, marking the opening of the new
route."The route helps locals businesses connect with the world
market," a representative from the New Silk Road Yunnan Limited said.The
new rail, sea freight will cut logistics cost, including that of transport, by
50 per cent compared to past services, the news agency reported. The service is
a part of China's Maritime Silk Road initiative, of which the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor project (CPEC) is an extension. Pakistan and China kicked off
first trade activities under CPEC in October as over a hundred Chinese containers
arrived at the Sust port in Hunza, following clearance from customs.
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