Day: December 2, 2021

The sales of petroleum products soared by 17.6 percent from July 2021 to November 2021, during the first five months of the current fiscal year.

During the period the total sale of petroleum products stood at 9.60 million tons compared to 8.16 million tons during the same period in the previous year.

The increase in sales has been credited to the large consumption of furnace oil (FO) to generate electricity over this period.

However, the sales saw a decline in November 2021 as they fell by 12 percent compared to October 2021. The decrease was due to the low consumption of FO by power generation companies. According to analysts the low use of FO by power companies was due to the lower power requirements in the winter months.

In November, the consumption of petroleum products was recorded at 1.75 million tons, down from 1.99 million tons in October.

However, there was a slight growth of 1.72 percent in the consumption of petroleum products in November 2021, compared to November 2020 when the consumption stood at 1.72 million tons.

Double-digit growth was seen in all major categories including diesel, petrol and finance oil during the months from July to November.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The government expects the pressure on trade bill to ease up in the second half of the current fiscal year, owing to reduced import of food items, furnace oil, and coronavirus vaccine.

This was revealed during a meeting chaired by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, on Thursday to review the balance of trade situation.

The meeting reviewed and discussed the import bill for the last five months—July to November 2021. It was informed that the pressure on import bill was mainly due to global high commodity prices, especially energy, steel, and industrial raw materials. The forum noted that the high import of vaccines contributed significantly to the rise in import bill.

The meeting was informed that there will be less import of food items, furnace oil, and vaccines in the coming months that will significantly reduce the pressure on trade bill in the second half of the current fiscal year.

At the conclusion, Tarin advised the concerned authorities to take effective policy measures to reduce unnecessary imports of luxury items.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 162.4 percent during the month of November. The trade deficit increased for the fifth successive month in November, rising to $5.107 billion.

In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the trade deficit has increased by more than 117.25 percent. November’s import bill surged to an all-time high of $8.01 billion, up from just $4.12 billion over the corresponding month last year, representing an increase of 94.41 percent.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for Energy, Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce & Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, federal secretaries, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor, Reza Baqir, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq, and other senior officers participated in the meeting.

Source: Pro Pakistani

During the COVID-19 pandemic, despite curtailed working hours and employees of Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan (USC) being vulnerable to the pandemic, USC ensured uninterrupted supplies of essential commodities via its widespread network of retail outlets.

As a matter of fact, USC did not spend any amount on account of COVID-19 funds as the ECC of the cabinet converted Rs. 10 billion into Rs. 7.7 billion as general subsidy and Rs. 2.3 Billion for the automation of USC.

It is worthwhile to mention here that under the Prime Minister’s Relief Package, USC has successfully served over 90 million households since January 2020 by providing subsidies on 5 essential commodities, namely wheat flour, ghee, sugar, rice, and pulses. During these testing times, USC has also assisted the Government of Pakistan in regulating prices of essential commodities in the open market.

USC procures ghee/oil from Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) recommended manufacturers and maintains the high-level quality of edible ghee/oil. Thus, USC assures that no bad quality ghee/oil is procured.

USC procures sugar, rice, and pulses by floating tenders following Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules as per government standards. The aim of doing procurement through following PPRA rules is to ensure transparency and accountability. Thus, USC assures high-quality food products to its consumers, and effective quality controls, standards, and mechanisms are being adopted to ensure good quality of products.

Moreover, USC is providing good quality wheat flour as per human consumption standards after carrying out laboratory tests.

For better quality controls, USC is in the phase of Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) implementation. In its first phase, 90 percent of Point of Sales (POS) machines have been deployed and installed in USC outlets.

The first phase will be live by December 31, 2021. In the second phase warehouses, supply chain management, and human resource management modules will be automated and connected to the data center, which will strengthen systems, bring transparency, and improve decision making through timely and quality data management. USC is committed to providing high-quality and hygienically fit products and better services to its customers.

Source: Pro Pakistani