Month: November 2021

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has announced a reduction in the price of LPG by Rs. 14,314.32 per metric tonne. The new price is to be applicable from December 1, 2021, according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

Currently, the price of LPG per metric tonne is Rs. 216,894.16, whereas the revised price will be Rs. 202,579.84 per metric tonne.

The reduction in LPG per cylinder amounts to Rs. 168.91. Currently, the price lies at Rs. 2,559.35 per cylinder, whereas the revised price will put the cost of a cylinder at Rs. 2,390.44.

The decision to reduce the price of LPG has been made under Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday reserved its decision on the Central Power Purchasing Agency’s (CPPA) plea seeking an increase, in the power tariff, of Rs. 4.75 per unit for the month of October.

The increase, if approved, will have an impact of around Rs. 60 billion, as expensive power was produced on imported furnace oil in the absence of required LNG supplies. The financial burden on consumers of ex-WAPDA distribution companies (Discos) will be reflected in the billing month of December. However, the consumers of K-Electric and lifeline consumers will be exempted from the surcharge.

The cost of the fuel used in power plants is a pass-through item and is paid for by consumers. As per the petition filed by the CPPA, 10% more electricity has been generated from furnace oil in October. The use of expensive furnace oil and rising global prices have resulted in generating expensive electricity, as per the CPPA briefing in the hearing.

NEPRA officials said that a previous adjustment of Rs. 5.2 billion had also been sought.

According to CPPA, violation of merit order resulted in a burden of over Rs. 1.77 billion and LNG shortage had caused a burden of over Rs. 1.69 billion.

NEPRA officials revealed that less electricity could have been generated from furnace oil had the LNG supply been in accordance with the demand. They added that 15% of electricity, instead of 25%, had been generated from coal. It was disclosed that a unit of the China Hub Power plant had been off-the-grid for the last six months.

Chairman NEPRA, Tauseef H. Farooqi, raised concerns over the use of inefficient power plants. He asked, “doesn’t the nation have the right to ask why cheap plants are not being operated”? He said that power plants around the world were in the open. He asked why did China Power Hub not have arrangements to avoid lightning. NEPRA summoned the power plant management in the next hearing to explain their position.

Vice-Chairman NEPRA, Rafiq Sheikh, observed that the entire burden of running expensive power plants was to be borne by domestic consumers. He raised questions about the NPCC’s failure to comply with the direction of the authority to report the dispatch of generation plants out of merit on daily basis. He said that consistent failure warranted legal processing against NPCC. NEPRA Sindh member said CPPA had failed to submit the segregation of financial impact into heads, including impact on account of the shortage of RLNG, system constraints, and underutilization of efficient power plants, against the merit order.

The NEPRA chairman said that the country witnessed growth due to the industrial package. He maintained that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had forecasted growth of only one percent. He said that due to the growth in electricity consumption, the industrial sector bounced back.

CPPA officials told the hearing that the price of 76 cents coal had reached 200 cents, adding that no power plant had been shut down due to shortage of coal.

The NEPRA chairman said that the current situation was very difficult, adding that, “we have to safeguard the consumers, and at the same time we have to allow the fuel cost to increase.” He stated that progress was being made to resolve the issue of LNG demand.

To a question, CPPA informed the authority that the government had paid Rs. 134 billion to IPPs.

After the hearing, the NEPRA reserved its decision. If the proposed increase gets NEPRA’s nod, the per-unit cost of electricity will be increased to Rs 4.75 to be charged in December bills for country-wide consumers, except the Karachi consumers.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) reported gains against the US Dollar (USD) and appreciated by 48 paisas against the greenback in the interbank market today. It hit an intra-day high of Rs. 175.55 against the dollar during today’s open market session.

The local currency appreciated by 0.27 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 175.72 today after it posted losses of 74 paisas and closed at an all-time low of Rs. 176.20 in the interbank market on Monday, 29 November.

This is the second time that the local currency has reported gains on the back of good news. The Rupee had made a similar showing after news of the staff-level agreement between the government and delegates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a few weeks ago.

The upsurge of the Rupee against the Dollar continued on Tuesday with the local currency gaining shape as compared to the previous close on the back of an improved supply of hard currency and positive investor sentiments. Added to the usual sentiments of the exchange ledger, perhaps an even bigger driver of a considerable and vertical change is the deposit agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of Pakistan.

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) will place a deposit of $3 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) under the deposit agreement. The deposit amount under the agreement will become part of the SBP’s Foreign Exchange Reserves and will help support Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves, support the Rupee, and facilitate the resolution of the adverse effects of the pandemic.

The former Treasury Head of Chase Manhattan Bank, Asad Rizvi, tweeted about today’s inter-bank performance earlier during open trade.

The PKR made an impressive showing against most of the other major currencies as well and posted gains in the interbank currency market today.

It gained 92 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), 73 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 71 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP), and nine paisas against the Chinese Yuan (CNY).

It also posted gains of 13 paisas against both the UAE Dirham (AED) and Saudi Riyal (SAR).

Conversely, it continued its bad run against the Euro (EUR) and lost 48 paisas in the inter-bank currency market today, closing at Rs. 199 against the eurozone currency.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is keen on promoting trade relations with Pakistan for the benefit of the people and economies of both countries.

This was stated by Dilsad Senol, Chief of Mission TRNC, in Pakistan, while addressing the business community during her visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Dilsad Senol said there was no formal trade between TRNC and Pakistan and it was time that both countries should focus on promoting bilateral trade. She noted that agriculture, construction, tourism, education, dairy, and citrus had the potential of developing bilateral cooperation.

She said TRNC mostly imported construction material and it was a good opportunity for Pakistan to export its construction material to the country alongside many other products. She informed the business community that TRNC had developed fine infrastructures with the help of qualified labor. She said her country was offering good incentives to foreign investors.

The Chief of Mission urged the Pakistani investors to explore the TRNC market for investment. She said that common culture and religion also provided good scope to Pakistan and TRNC for promoting business relations. She said that 20 universities were operating in TRNC and over 3,000 Pakistani students were studying in those universities.

Speaking on the occasion, President ICCI, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, said that the business community of Pakistan had developed strong business relations with Turkish counterparts, including the entrepreneurs of TRNC. However, he added, there was a lack of awareness in the Pakistani business community about the opportunities in TRNC. He stressed the need for promoting the exchange of trade delegations to explore all potential areas of mutual cooperation.

President ICCI said that the construction sector was growing in Pakistan and the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being set up under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor offered attractive opportunities to local and foreign investors. He invited the investors of TRNC to explore investment opportunities in potential sectors of Pakistan, including SEZs. He said Pakistan possessed great reserves of high-quality marble and granite, adding that the two countries should cooperate in sharing the latest technology to promote mechanized mining and produce value-added marble products.

Senior Vice President ICCI, Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh, and Vice President ICCI, Muhammad Faheem Khan, thanked the TRNC Chief of Mission for visiting ICCI. They emphasized encouraging the exchange of students and enhancing people-to-people contacts to promote trade and economic relations between Pakistan and TRNC.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index-based inflation witnessed an increase of 11.53 percent on a year-on-year basis in November 2021 compared to 9.2 percent in the previous month and 8.3 percent in November 2020, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the inflation for the month of November is the highest in 21 months. The number clocked in at 12.40 percent in February 2020.

However, PBS later removed the monthly data from the website.

Regarding the removal of the monthly data from the website, PBS officials told ProPakistani that, “PBS releases CPI data on the first day of every month. It appears that PBS mistakenly released the data on the last date of the month and later removed it.”

As per the monthly review of price indices by the PBS on a month-on-month basis, it increased by 3 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.9 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.8 percent in November 2020.

The National Consumer Price Index for November 2021 increased by 2.98 percent over October 2021 and increased by 11.53 percent over the corresponding month of the last year i.e. November 2020.

The CPI inflation Urban, increased by 12 percent on a year-on-year basis in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 9.6 percent in the previous month and 7 percent in November 2020. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 2.9 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.7 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.6 percent in November 2020.

The CPI inflation Rural, increased by 10.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 8.7 percent in the previous month and 10.5 percent in November 2020. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 3.1 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 2.2 percent in the previous month and an increase of 1.1 percent in November 2020.

The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) inflation on YoY increased by 18.1 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 15.2 percent a month earlier and an increase of 9.9 percent in November 2020. On a MoM basis, it increased by 3.6 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 2.1 percent a month earlier and an increase of 1.1 percent in November 2020.

The Wholesale Price index (WPI) inflation on a YoY basis increased by 27 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 21.2 percent a month earlier and an increase of 5 percent in November 2020. WPI inflation on MoM basis increased by 3.8 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 4.2 percent a month earlier and a decrease of 0.9 percent in corresponding month i.e. November 2020.

Measured by non-food non-energy Urban increased by 7.6 percent on YoY basis in November, 2021 as compared to an increase of 6.7 percent in the previous month and 5.6 percent in November, 2020. On MoM basis, it increased by 1.1 percent in November, 2021 as compared to increase of 0.9 percent in previous month, and an increase of 0.3 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. November, 2020.

Measured by non-food non-energy Rural increased by 8.2 percent on a YoY basis in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 6.7 percent in the previous month and 7.4 percent in November, 2020. On MoM basis, it increased by 1.8 percent in November 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.0 percent in the previous month, and an increase of 0.3 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. November, 2020.

Measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean Urban increased by 9.8 percent on a YoY basis in November, 2021 as compared to 8.7 percent in the previous month and 6.3 percent in November, 2020. On MoM basis, it increased by 1.7 percent in November, 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.1 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.2 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. November, 2020.

Measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean Rural increased by 9.5 percent on YoY basis in November, 2021 as compared to 8.2 percent in the previous month and by 9.1 percent in November, 2020. On MoM basis, it increased by 2.2 percent in November, 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.6 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.4 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. November, 2020.

The Urban Consumer Price Index of November 2021 increased by 2.86 percent over October 2021 and increased by 11.99 percent over corresponding month of the last year i.e. November 2020.

Top few commodities which varied from previous month and contributed to urban CPI among food which registered increase are tomatoes (131.64 percent), mustard oil (11.6 percent), vegetable ghee (10.87 percent), vegetables (10.47 percent), eggs (10.19 percent), cooking oil (9.71 percent), potatoes (8.85 percent), honey (5.61 percent), fruits (4.37 percent), pulse masoor (3.14 percent), meat (2.63 percent), milk (2.33 percent), fish (1.90 percent), gram whole (1.77 percent), rice (1.73 percent) and sugar (1.43 percent) and decreased in onions (7.97 percent), chicken (4.34 percent) and pulse moong (0.69 percent), according to the PBS data.

Among non-food items, which registered increase are liquefied hydrocarbons (16.32 percent), cleaning and laundering (16.16 percent), motor fuel (8.40 percent), electricity charges (8.32 percent), carpets (3.61 percent), cotton cloth (2.64 percent), motor vehicle accessories (2.43 percent), washing soap, detergents, and match box (2.24 percent), construction input items (1.99 percent) and drugs and medicines (1.63 percent).

On YoY, top few commodities, which varied from the previous year and contributed to the UCPI among food items, which registered increased are vegetable ghee (58.29 percent), mustard oil (56.96 percent), cooking oil (53.59 percent), pulse masoor (22.38 percent), fruits (21.67 percent), meat (20.2 percent), wheat flour (19.04 percent), gram whole (14.69 percent), beans (12.77 percent), milk (11.71 percent), vegetables (10.97 percent), butter (10.83 percent) and wheat (10.26 percent) and decreased in onions (37.68 percent), pulse moong (27.03 percent) and potatoes (17.66 percent)

Among non-food which increased are liquefied hydrocarbons (80.34percent), electricity charges (47.87 percent), motor fuel (40.81 percent), cleaning and laundering (21.17 percent), footwear (16.20 percent), washing soap, detergents and match box (14.41 percent), motor vehicle accessories (13.99 percent), household equipment (12.42 percent) and drugs and medicines (11.76 percent).

The Rural Consumer Price Index of November 2021 increased by 3.15 percent over October 2021 and increased by 10.87 percent over corresponding month of the last year i.e. November 2020.

Top few commodities which varied from previous month and contributed to rural CPI and which increased among food items are tomatoes (150.74 percent), potatoes (8.23 percent), vegetable ghee (7.43 percent), mustard oil (7.23 percent), vegetables (7.15 percent), cooking oil (7.02 percent), eggs (6.03 percent), fruits (4.21 percent), beans (4.10 percent), fish (3.67 percent), tea (3.37 percent), gram whole (2.40 percent), wheat (2.32 percent), meat (2.03 percent) and pulse masoor (1.47 percent) and decreased in onions (11.07 percent), chicken (4.41 percent), condiments and spices (1.66 percent), pulse mash (1.60 percent) and pulse moong (1.34 percent).

Among non-food items, which increased are liquefied hydrocarbons (13.45 percent), woolen readymade garments (9.11 percent), motor fuels (8.76 percent), electricity charges (8.32 percent), readymade garments (3.81 percent), cleaning and laundering (3.44 percent), construction input items (3.20 percent) and woolen cloth (3.17 percent).

On YoY basis, the top few commodities, which varied from previous year which increased and contributed to rural CPI among cooking oil (54.88 percent), mustard oil (54.2 percent), vegetable ghee (53 percent), gram whole (20.56 percent), meat (18.39 percent), pulse masoor (17.88 percent), fruits (15.55 percent), wheat flour (15.48 percent), vegetables (13.41 percent), beans (10.54 percent), besan (10.24 percent), milk (9.62 percent), fish(9.36 percent) and chicken (9.18 percent) and decreased in onions (40.57 percent), pulse moong (26.35 percent), potatoes (23.5 percent) and condiments and spices.

Among non-food items which increased are liquefied hydrocarbons (61.45 percent), electricity charges (47.87 percent), motor fuels (40.22 percent), woolen garments (15.98 percent), hosiery (15.3 percent), construction input items (12.83 percent), washing soaps, detergents and match box (12.71 percent), readymade garments (11.32 percent), clinic fee (11.21 percent), household equipment (11.21 percent), vehicles accessories (11.00 percent) and furniture and furnishing (9.69 percent).

The Wholesale Price Index for November, 2021 increased by 3.79 percent over October, 2021. It increased by 26.97 percent over the corresponding month of the last year i.e. November, 2020.

Top few commodities which varied from previous month and contributed to the WPI inflation and increased included sugar crops (22.26 percent), fertilizers (13.39 percent), chemicals (12.69 percent), vegetable oils (11.06 percent), eggs (10.57 percent), fibre crops (10.57 percent), kerosene oil (10.40 percent), bed foam (10.25 percent), diesel (9.65 percent), potatoes (9.50 percent), motor spirit (9.47 percent), tractors (8.10 percent), vegetable ghee (8.00 percent), steel bar and sheets (7.80 percent), ceramics and sanitary fixture (7.44 percent), woolen carpets (7.02 percent), synthetic carpets (6.78 percent), mobil oil (5.68 percent), woven fabrics (5.66 percent), bricks, blocks and tiles (5.56 percent), steel products (4.79 percent), soaps and detergents (4.71 percent), timber (3.88 percent), hosiery products (3.25 percent), meat (2.55 percent), stimulant and spice crops (2.21 percent), plastic products (2.05 percent) and coffee and tea (1.81 percent) and decreased in bajra (19.83 percent), fruits (9.85 percent), sugar (2.95 percent), poultry (2.42 percent) and other oil seeds (0.80 percent).

YoY top few commodities, which varied from previous year i.e. November, 2020 increased include furnace oil (100.55 percent), fibre crops (80.23 percent), kerosene oil (77.2 percent), cultivators (68.18 percent), steel bar and sheets (64.11 percent), diesel (62.16 percent), vegetable ghee (57.47 percent), other oil seeds (56.32 percent), vegetable oils (50.87 percent), bajra (48.92 percent), fertilizers (46.27 percent), motor spirit (45.42 percent), cotton yarn (45.36 percent), chemicals (41.19 percent), spices (33.34 percent), maize (25.02 percent), silk and rayon fabrics (24.52 percent), woven fabrics (23.67 percent), mobil oil (19.66 percent), meat (18.06 percent), soaps and detergents (17.92 percent), hosiery products (17.19 percent), cement (16.12 percent) and cotton fabrics (14.98 percent) and decreased in stimulant and spice crops (44.72 percent) and potatoes (16.97 percent).

Source: Pro Pakistani