Upcoming
OPEC meeting: Oil may rise to $55 if producers cooperate:
Iranian Oil Minister
Bijan Zanganeh expressed optimism on Saturday about an upcoming OPEC meeting
and said crude prices could jump to $55 a barrel if an agreement is reached and
non-OPEC producers cooperate.“We are receiving positive signals that increase
the likelihood of agreement at the meeting … and I’m optimistic about the
situation,” Zanganeh told state television by telephone, after meeting OPEC
Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo in Tehran ahead of the November 30
meeting.“I think if we can reach an agreement, the price would rapidly reach
above $50 per barrel … If non-OPEC (producers) also cooperate, I don’t think
$55 per barrel would be out of reach.”
Money
Market: Bank borrowing declines:
ACCORDING to the
weekly statement of position of all scheduled banks for the week ended Nov 04,
deposits and other accounts of all scheduled banks stood at Rs10,407.61bn after
a 0.38pc decrease over the preceding week’s figure of Rs10,446.97bn.Compared
with last year’s corresponding figure of Rs9,052.94bn, the current week’s
figure was higher by 14.96pc.Deposits and other accounts of all commercial
banks stood at Rs10,346.07bn against preceding week’s deposits of
Rs10,386.78bn, showing a decrease of 0.40pc. Deposits and other accounts of
specialised banks stood at Rs61.53bn, higher by 2.24pc against previous week’s
figure of Rs60.19bn.
National
debt, liabilities cross Rs2.2 trillion:
Pakistan's overall
debt and liabilities have soared to an all-time high and have crossed Rs2.2
trillion ─ an increase of Rs0.8tr since the PML-N government came to power,
said the recently released National Data Summary released by the State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP).The SBP summary shows that on September 30, 2016, the country’s
overall domestic debt and liabilities stood at Rs14.79tr, whereas the external
debt and liabilities stood at $72.98 billion on June 30, 2016.In the present
government’s three years, the domestic debt and liabilities showed an increase
of Rs5,255bn and external debt more than Rs2,500bn.According to official
documents in June 2013, the overall debt and liabilities were at the level of
Rs14.32tr under which domestic debt and liabilities stood at Rs9.52tr and
external debt and liabilities were recorded at Rs4.8tr.
Hike
in coal prices irks cement manufacturers:
The All Pakistan
Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has expressed its concern over sharp
rise in coal prices, impacting the cost of production of cement.Coal price
which was $54 in May 2016 has now increased to $105. According to industry
experts, higher coal prices have dampened local cement players’ profits, as
coal constitutes more than 30 percent to the total production costs. Experts
said that coal prices have been gradually increasing since May 2016, when China
(world’s largest coal producer, importer and consumer) imposed supply side measures
to limit its coal mining capacity. Recent surge to the trajectory came from
stricter local rules on coal transportation which fueled coal imports.In
shorter term, domestic Chinese coal supplies may increase in order to prevent a
supply shortfall, which would be a short-term bear point for all coal prices.
However, upcoming massive coal demand from South Asian countries owing to
upcoming coal power plants, is likely to
keep the coal prices downward sticky in longer term and it is expected the
prices to remain up.
Govt’s
decision of no increase in gas tariff to hit Sindh hard
The industries and
power generation entities are going to be the biggest beneficiaries of the
government’s decision of making no increase in gas prices as per OGRA’s
recommendation, official documents have revealed.No hike in gas tariff has been
recommended by OGRA for any slabs of domestic consumers. First, the two slabs
of special commercial consumers (such as Roti Tandoors) and Fertilisers
industries. Sindh is the largest producer of gas, and will be affected the most
by the government’s decision of not increasing the gas prices, followed by
Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Sindh’s share in gas production is about 67
percent, followed by 18 percent of Balochistan and 13 percent of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, respectively.
Argentina
offers collaboration in agriculture sector:
Ambassador of
Argentina in Pakistan, Ivan Ivanissevich has visited Pakistan Agricultural
Research Council (PARC) and met with PARC Chairman Dr Yusuf Zafar, PARC Plant Sciences
Division member Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali and other senior scientists to
strengthen collaboration in agriculture. During the discussion, the major areas
focused was wheat and maize production, farm machinery and to control of
post-harvest losses. It was agreed that in Pak-Argentina beneficial
collaboration, Argentina government will extend all possible cooperation in
these areas.The Argentina ambassador desired that a delegation of Pakistan
side, including senior level researchers, planners and policy makers, should
visit Argentine agriculture research institutions to witness new innovations,
exchange technical knowledge, experience and methods of performing agriculture
and marketing.He also invited PARC scientists and senior management to join a
donor seminar to be held in the first week of December for brainstorming and
sharing each other experiences.
All
small-size companies: SECP announces NTN exemption for two years:
The Securities and
Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has announced general exemption-- for a
period of two years-- to all small-size companies, including new Agriculture
Promotion Companies, from the requirement of National Tax Number (NTN) at the
time of formation of a company.In this regard, the SECP has issued a circular
(number 35 of 2016) after the promulgation of the Companies Ordinance, 2016
regarding exemption from NTN requirement under the Companies Ordinance,
2016.The SECP said that the Companies Ordinance, 2016 ("the
Ordinance")was promulgated on November 11, 2016.The provisions of section
153 (h) of the Ordinance provides that a person shall not be eligible for
appointment as a director of a company, if he does not hold a National Tax
Number as per the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.It has been
observed that the promotors desirous of forming Small-Size Companies (SSC) face
difficulties as National Tax Number may not be available at the time of
formation of a company.
Over
Rs 19 billion inconsistency in subsidy of urea, DAP
There is an
inconsistency of over Rs 19 billion in the subsidy for urea and DAP in the
current fiscal year between what was budgeted by the Ministry of Finance and
what is in documents of the Ministry of National Food, Security and Research
(MNFS&R).Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in his 2016-17 budget speech announced
a Rs 46 billion subsidy on fertiliser - Rs 36 billion on urea and Rs 10 billion
on DAP - to support the agriculture sector against rising cost of inputs -
which was to be equally shared between the federal and provincial governments.Official
documents of MNFS&R noted a subsidy of Rs 27.96 billion - Rs 20 billion
less - for urea and DAP for the ongoing fiscal year. When Business Recorder
contacted Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood, he denied making any reduction in
the subsidy.When his attention was drawn towards a brief of Ministry of
NFS&R that indicated a subsidy of Rs 27.96 billion on urea and DAP for the
current fiscal year, he said he was "not in the picture about any such
brief" and insisted that the government would provide subsidy as announced
in the federal budget.
