Month: July 2021

Get serious’: Pakistan’s Covid-19 cases, positivity rate soar to highest levels since May

Admin

Pakistan has reported 3,752 coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours, taking the national positivity rate to a whopping 7.51 per cent as the country battles a fourth wave of the pandemic. According to the National Command and Operation Centre, this is the highest number of cases reported since May 21 when 4,007 infections were reported, and a dramatic overnight increase from the 2,819 cases reported a day earlier. Meanwhile, the positivity rate in the country is the highest since May 19 when it was recorded as 8.23pc. During the…

Read More

NTDC fails to recover Rs714m from Iranian firm

Admin

The National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) has failed to recover Rs714 million from an Iranian firm despite the award announced by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in April last year, Dawn learnt on Saturday. “A severe lack of on-time decision making, politics, appointment of a permanent MD, resignation of competent officers and other administrative issues are the major reasons behind the long delay in resolving various matters including recovery of Rs714m claims the NTDC had made before the ICC in a case filed by the Iranian firm…

Read More

Political consensus’ urged for average gas pricing

Admin

Amid system challenges, the Petroleum Division is seeking an average national basket price for natural gas — both local and imported — through a distant ‘political consensus’ even though it has fixed price commitments with various consumer groups. This comes at a time when the energy sector is facing serious gas and electricity shortages and both gas and power companies are struggling with their financials to ensure smooth supplies. The federal government has been asking the provinces for introduction of weighted average cost of gas (WACOG) by moving away from…

Read More

Pakistan’s REER improves to 99.85

Admin

Pakistan’s real effective exchange rate (REER) – the country’s cost of international trade – improved to 99.85 points on the index in June, making exports viable and imports expensive mainly due to depreciation in rupee against the basket of major trading partners’ currencies. The real effective exchange rate below 100 means the country’s exports remain competitive and import expensive. The situation reverses when REER stands above 100 on the index, it was learnt. “The improvement in real effective exchange rate would encourage exports from Pakistan and discourage unnecessary imports into…

Read More

CAD threatens rupee stability in coming days

Admin

The current account deficit (CAD) may pose a challenge to rupee stability in the coming days, despite record inflows of export receipts and workers’ remittances. The current account posted an unexpected $1.64 billion in June 2021. The monthly current account deficit deteriorated the full-year balance of payment. Analysts at Topline Research said the current account deterioration in June 2021 was largely due to an increase in the imports of goods, which recorded a rise of 27 percent MoM, or $1.363 billion, to clock-in at $6.322 billion. After the higher deficit…

Read More