PAR News - Tues, 22 Nov 2022

TOPLINE

• The federal government has started the process of importing another 500,000 metric tonnes of wheat in the wake of its shortage following the recent devastating flooding.
• A delegation of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association met with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and sought permission for the export of surplus sugar. A sugar mill has warned of closing its operations if the Sindh government follows the lead of the Punjab government and fixes Rs 300 per 40 kgs cane purchase price.
• Rs 100.4 billion was the import value of petroleum products in October 2022, down 18.65% compared to Rs 123.4 billion in October 2021.
• Pakistan ordered an investigation into an alleged leak of confidential tax documents after the publishing of news about army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s family members becoming billionaires since his appointment in 2016.
• The district court of Islamabad started the criminal proceedings against Pakistan PTI Chairman Imran Khan after receiving the Toshakhana reference on Monday, forwarded by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
• Russia for the first time became the biggest fertiliser supplier to India in the first half of the 2022/23 fiscal year by offering discounts over prevailing global prices. Ukraine said on Monday that it had discovered four Russian torture sites in its southern city of Kherson, which Moscow’s forces quit this month.

COMMODITIES - CROPS, LIVESTOCK & HORTICULTURE

• Wheat Import: The federal government has started the process of importing another 500,000 metric tonnes of wheat in the wake of its shortage following the recent devastating floods in several parts of the country. [ET]
• Sugar Export: The government would decide whether to allow the export of sugar or not on Thursday after collecting data from provincial sugar commissioners about the availability of surplus sugar. On Monday, a delegation of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) met with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and sought permission for the export of surplus sugar. [BR] [ET]
• Sugarcane Crushing: Agriculture sector stakeholders have expressed fears that the ongoing conflict between sugarcane growers and sugar mills owners over starting the crushing season could affect sugar production and also delay wheat cultivation. A sugar mill has warned of closing its operations if the Sindh government treads on the heels of the Punjab government and fixes Rs 300 per 40 kgs cane purchase price. [ET] [ET]
• Textile Exports: Pakistan’s exports of textile and clothing posted a negative growth of 15.23% in October from a year ago, data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Monday. [Dawn] [The News]

AGRI-INPUTS, WEATHER, WATER & POWER

• Weather: Punjab’s plan districts are expected to witness foggy weather conditions during morning hours on Tuesday, the Met Office said on Monday. Elsewhere in the country, the weather is likely to remain cold and dry. [BR]
• Air, Water Monitoring System: The World Bank will give a soft loan of $200 million to the Punjab government for installing air and water quality monitoring systems under a green development project. [ET]
• Petroleum Import: Rs 100.4 billion was the import value of petroleum products in October 2022, down 18.65% compared to Rs 123.4 billion in October 2021. [ET]
• Gas Crisis: Winter has come and the gas crisis has started. Earlier, households used to hue and cry. But now, the industry is doing the same. [ET]
• Flood Rehabilitation: USAID’s Economic Recovery and Development Activity (USAID-ERDA) and Agriculture, Livestock, and Cooperative Department Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will provide 743 tons of certified wheat seed and 1,485 tons of fertilizer to 14,850 flood-affected farmers from Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, and Khyber Districts to ensure food security during the current cropping season. “We have to use for all our needs the same saline and highly contaminated flood water that inundated our village for the past three months and do without electricity,” said Abdul Hakeem Sakhani, whose family had taken shelter on Supriyo Bund in the wake of the flood. [Dunya News] [Dawn] [ET]

AGRI UPDATES & PAKISTAN POLICY

• Bajwa Family Tax Inquiry: Pakistan ordered an investigation into an alleged leak of confidential tax documents after a news portal published a report about army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s family members becoming billionaires since his appointment in 2016. Fact Focus said his wife and other family members had invested in real estate and the oil business and transferred funds overseas. Pakistan blasted the report as an “illegal and unwarranted leakage of tax information.” [Bloomberg] [Dawn]
• Toshakhana Reference: The district court of Islamabad started the criminal proceedings against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan after receiving the Toshakhana reference on Monday, forwarded by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). [BR] [ET] [DT] [The News]
• Lower Imports: The country’s current account deficit fell sharply by 47% during the first four months of this fiscal year (FY23) supported by lower import bills. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Monday reported that Pakistan posted a $2.821 billion current account deficit during July-Oct of FY23 against $5.305 billion in the same period of last fiscal year (FY22), depicting a decrease of $2.484 billion. [BR]
• Current Account Deficit: Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) shrank by 46.8% during the first four months of this fiscal year (FY23) due to a lower import bill and a marginal increase in exports. The deficit during October alone clocked in at $567 million, which is 56% higher on a month-on-month basis. [BR] [Dawn] [ET] [ARY] [The Nation]
• Foreign Investment: Foreign direct investment nosedived 52& during the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY23), reflecting the poor economic health and political instability in the country. [Dawn] [PKR] [The News] [Pro Pakistani]
• Credit Default Swap: The perception of Pakistan’s risk of default has worsened with the five-year credit default swap (CDS) surging by 30 percentage points in a week to 93% on Monday ahead of the repayment of $1 billion for a maturing international bond early next month. [ET]
• Sino Pak Dual Diploma Program: Bailie Vocational College China and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) have launched the Sino Pak dual diploma program in Modern Agriculture Technology in collaboration with Tang International Education Group in which students will spend two years at the UAF and one year in China. [UP]
• No Money for Terror: Pakistan strongly rejected all references and insinuations by the Indian leadership directed against it on Monday at the ‘No Money for Terror’ ministerial meeting held in New Delhi. [Dawn] [ET] [Geo News]
• Reko Diq Settlement: The Supreme Court was apprised that the successful Reko Diq settlement will restore Pakistan’s international credibility and the country will again feature as a foreign investment destination on the world map. [BR]

INTERNATIONAL – OVERVIEW & MARKET OUTLOOK

• Russia Becomes Top Fertiliser Supplier to India: Russia for the first time became the biggest fertiliser supplier to India in the first half of the 2022/23 fiscal year by offering discounts over prevailing global prices, cornering more than a fifth of the market share, government and industry sources said. [ET] [DH]
• Oil Prices: Oil prices were down on Monday, but reversed some losses after hitting their lowest since early January on conflicting reports about whether Saudi Arabia and other OPEC oil producers are considering a half-million barrel daily output increase. Brent crude futures for January fell $1.41, or 1.6%, to $86.21 a barrel by 12:16 p.m. EST (1716 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were down $1.69, or 2.1%, at $78.39 ahead of the contract’s expiry later on Monday. [BR]
• Qatar-China Gas Deal: QatarEnergy has signed a 27-year deal to supply China’s Sinopec with liquefied natural gas (LNG), the longest such LNG agreement so far as volatile markets drive buyers to seek long-term deals. [BR] [ET]
• Indonesia Earthquake: A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed 162 people, with hundred others injured and missing, when it toppled buildings and triggered landslides on Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, with rescuers trying to reach survivors trapped under the rubble amid a series of aftershocks, local media Kompas.com and Detik.com reported, citing West Java governor Ridwan Kamil. [Dawn] [ET]
• Russia-Ukraine Updates: Ukraine said on Monday that it had discovered four Russian torture sites in its southern city of Kherson, which Moscow’s forces quit this month leaving behind a trail of misery and destruction. [Dawn] [Al Jazeera]

PAKISTAN - REMAINDERS

• Opinion: God-Sent Opportunity - “THE government pines for dollars and thinks of exports all the time. And yet, we have only taken our exports from $24.6 billion to $34.5bn in the last 10 years, while Bangladesh has taken them from $24.5bn to $52bn and India from $448.4bn to $660.5bn.” - By Tasneem Noorani [Dawn]

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