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Pakistan’s key stock index records highest year-end close amid budget, IMF optimism

This photo, taken on February 23, 2024, shows Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi. (AN Photo/File)
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Updated 28 June 2024
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Pakistan’s key stock index records highest year-end close amid budget, IMF optimism

  • Benchmark index witnessed an increase of 36,992 points or 89.2% on an annual basis during FY24 to close at 78,445 points
  • Pakistan is eyeing another loan program from the International Monetary Fund as it grapples with a macroeconomic crisis
Updated 28 June 2024
KHURSHID AHMED   

KARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market ended fiscal year 2024 on a high, with its key stock index recording 78,444 points on Friday, the highest level reached on the last day of a fiscal year amid renewed optimism among investors that Islamabad would secure a fresh loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Pakistan’s National Assembly on Friday passed the government’s tax-laden finance bill for the next fiscal year starting July 1, 2024. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the budget on June 12 which featured a challenging tax revenue target of Rs13 trillion ($46.55 billion), up by about 40 percent from the target set in the current fiscal year.

The new budget has further burdened Pakistan’s salary class by imposing more direct tax on their income. Meanwhile, tax has also been increased to 18 percent on textile and leather products and mobile phones. However, analysts noted that the tax-heavy budget is in line with the IMF’s conditions for Pakistan to secure another financial bailout package. 

Pakistan’s stock market rebounded last year after the South Asian country secured a last-gasp $3 billion short-term loan from the global lender that proved instrumental in the country avoiding a sovereign default. 

“The KSE-100 index witnessed an increase of 36,992 points or 89.2 percent on an annual basis during FY24 to close at 78,445 points,” Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, told Arab News. He noted that this was the highest increase in percentage terms since FY03.

However, the market closed the last trading day of the outgoing fiscal year on a bearish note, with the index losing 83 points.

“Stocks closed lower amid pressure at the fiscal year-end close and on concerns of an expected higher CPI inflation for June 2024, and $918 million profit repatriations causing massive foreign outflows in May 2024,” Ahsan Mehanti, a senior stock analyst, explained.

Pakistan’s currency also stabilized during the outgoing fiscal year, as the Pakistani rupee appreciated by 2.8 percent on an annual basis against the US dollar. The local currency’s performance was a welcome sight, considering it had underperformed over the past three years. 

The currency appreciated primarily due to the decrease in the current account deficit, an improvement in Pakistan’s foreign inflows, a reduction in the gap between the open and interbank rates, and other administrative measures by the government.

Inflation, which surged to a record high of 38 percent in May 2023, has also declined considerably to 11.8 percent in May 2024 as per official data. 

However, the inflation outlook for June 2024 has increased slightly compared to the previous month but remains well below the June 2023 level. This rise can be attributed primarily to higher prices of perishable items, driven by the Eid Al-Adha event, according to a monthly report issued by the finance ministry.

“FY2024 is going to end with an economic stabilization path accompanied by improved macroeconomic indicators,” the finance ministry’s report for June 2024 said. 

The report added that subsiding inflationary pressures, stability in external accounts and exchange rate, fiscal consolidation and gradual recovery in industrial activities are restoring confidence among economic agents. 

Topics: Pakistan stock exchange

Fears mount of new deportation wave as Afghan refugees’ registration cards expire on June 30

Updated 15 sec ago
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Fears mount of new deportation wave as Afghan refugees’ registration cards expire on June 30

  • Pakistan extended the POR cards for two months in April after expelling more than 540,000 Afghan nationals
  • Government launched the deportation drive against ‘illegal immigrants’ in November, citing security concerns
Updated 15 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may resume its deportation drive against Afghan refugees from Monday after their Proof of Registration (POR) cards expire today, June 30.
POR cards are identification documents issued by Pakistani authorities to Afghan refugees that serve as official recognition of their legal status in the country, allowing them access to various services such as education, health care and banking.
The government extends these cards on a periodic basis, often depending on the political and security situations involving both countries.
It decided to extend these cards for two months in April amid rising international concerns of more Afghans being expelled after over 540,000 of them were sent home in the first deportation phase launched amid security concerns last November.
While the government has not yet issued a statement addressing the future of these refugees, the situation has once again stirred concern about Afghan nationals needing “international protection.”
“They’re refugees. They’re not involved in terrorist activities. They’re just people who fled and who need protection,” Philippa Candler, an Afghan refugee agency official in Pakistan, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
Pakistan began its deportation drive against “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghan nationals, after a surge of deadly suicide bombings which officials in Islamabad blamed on militants based in Afghanistan.
The authorities also blamed the Afghan administration in Kabul for facilitating these militants, a charge denied by Taliban officials, while blaming Afghan nationals in Pakistan for carrying out 14 out of 24 suicide attacks in the country.
Pakistani officials also warned that they would expel registered Afghan refugees from the country.

Topics: Afghan refugee in Pakistan

Seven killed, 10 injured in road collision in Pakistan’s Karachi amid heavy port traffic

Updated 30 June 2024
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Seven killed, 10 injured in road collision in Pakistan’s Karachi amid heavy port traffic

  • The incident took place on Mauripur Road, which is notorious for traffic jams due to heavy vehicles
  • The top police surgeon in Karachi says three people involved in the accident are in critical condition
Updated 30 June 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

KARACHI: Seven people were killed and ten injured after a road accident occurred between a coaster and a trailer in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi on Sunday.
The incident took place on the central Mauripur Road, notorious for traffic jams due to the heavy flow of trawlers and trucks carrying goods to and from the city’s port facilities.
Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital, is a major hub for import and export, benefiting from a bustling harbor that provides access to global sea lanes.
“We received seven bodies, one male and six females,” said Karachi’s top police surgeon, Dr. Summaiya Syed, while speaking to Arab News.
She informed that among the 10 injured people, four were male while six were female, with three of them in critical condition.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads are often in poor condition.
Karachi, the largest and most densely populated Pakistani metropolis, experiences a heavy load of traffic on nearly every artery of the city.
According to media reports, the speeding coaster rammed into the trailer and overturned as the latter’s driver was trying to take a U-turn.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed grief over the incident, saying the licenses of all reckless drivers should be suspended.

Topics: road accident

Twenty inmates stage jailbreak in Azad Kashmir, one killed – officials

Updated 30 June 2024
AFP
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Twenty inmates stage jailbreak in Azad Kashmir, one killed – officials

  • The incident took place at the Poonch district jail in Rawalakot city where the inmates used a revolver to hold a sentry hostage
  • A search operation is underway to locate the escapees, some of whom were held on serious charges including terrorism
Updated 30 June 2024
AFP

MUZAFFARABAD: Twenty detainees, some accused of terrorism, staged a prison break in Azad Kashmir on Sunday, officials told AFP, adding that one was “killed in the crossfire” during the escape.
“The inmates had a revolver that they used to hold a sentry hostage,” said Badar Munir, an official with the regional ministry of interior.
“It is unclear whether they seized it (the weapon) from jail officials or if it was brought in from outside,” Munir added.
The incident took place at the Poonch district jail in Rawalakot city, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir.
“In total, 20 people escaped from the prison. One was killed in the crossfire, while 19 others remain at large,” the inspector general of Kashmir prisons, Waheed Ali Gillani, told AFP.
A senior local police official, Riaz Mughal, told AFP that police had blocked the entry and exit points of Rawalakot, and a search operation was currently under way to locate the escapees.
Prisons in Pakistan are notorious for overcrowding, poor conditions, corruption and human rights violations. Additionally, slow judicial processes contribute to prolonged stays for prisoners.
Militant groups have organized several mass jailbreaks in Pakistan in the past, including one in the northwestern town of Bannu in 2012 that sprung 400 prisoners.

Topics: Kashmir jailbreak

Seven dead in torrential rains in southwest Pakistan amid warnings of more pre-monsoon showers

Updated 30 June 2024
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Seven dead in torrential rains in southwest Pakistan amid warnings of more pre-monsoon showers

  • Provincial Disaster Management Authority calls Dera Bugti the most highly affected area due to the rainfall
  • Balochistan also bore a significant brunt of the devastation caused by heavy monsoon rains two years ago
Updated 30 June 2024
Nadeem Khan

QUETTA: Torrential rains killed seven people, including two children, and injured at least 25 in southwest Pakistan, a Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) official in Balochistan said on Sunday, adding that Dera Bugti district, about 360 kilometers from Quetta, was the most affected area.
Pakistan’s struggle with natural disasters intensified in 2022, as unprecedented monsoon rains wreaked havoc nationwide, claiming 1,700 lives and resulting in an estimated $35 billion in financial losses.
The country’s southern belt, including Balochistan, bore a significant brunt of the devastation.
Pakistan contributes less than one percent to global carbon emissions, though it ranks among the top ten nations most vulnerable to climate change.
“Relief operation is underway, and we have provided food items and tents to the affected,” Muhammad Younus, who supervises the PDMA emergency cell, told Arab News while confirming the number of fatalities. “Officials are doing the damage assessment survey.”

The photo taken on June 30, 2024, shows a house destroyed by torrential rains in the southwest Pakistan. (AN Photo)


Younus informed the province expected pre-monsoon rainfall early next month, starting from July 7.
“Relevant departments have been asked to clear the water channels before any disaster,” he added.
Speaking to Arab News, Riaz Ali, a resident of Sajjo Colony in Sui, a town in Dera Bugti district, said he lost his 17-year-old son a day earlier when the roof of a local restaurant collapsed due to heavy rain.
“It was 4 or 5 PM when the heavy rainstorm began and lasted for 30 minutes,” he recalled. “In the evening, I received a call from my neighbor, who works at a hospital, to tell me that my son had died. I went to the hospital to receive his body. He had been injured in his head.”
The current situation has reminded the residents of the province of the catastrophe two years ago when heavy rains led to flash floods that destroyed houses, agricultural fields and public infrastructure in the province.
Sannaullah Panezai, an associate professor of geography at the University of Balochistan, noted the rise in erratic weather patterns in Pakistan.
“Such rains mostly began by the end of July and lasted till September in the past,” he said, pointing out the region did not receive much rain in 2023. “Climate change has been affecting rainfall and causing flash floods.”
The recent rains in Balochistan have also caused concern for agricultural production in the area.
“Our garden of apples has been partially affected,” Fazal Deen, who has his own fields in Ziarat, told Arab News. “We have also planted vegetables on 10 acres of land that have been completely destroyed.”

Topics: rains climate change Global warming monsoon rains

Pakistan’s new national firewall to target ‘propaganda and unwanted content,’ confirms official

Updated 30 June 2024
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Pakistan’s new national firewall to target ‘propaganda and unwanted content,’ confirms official

  • IT ministry official plays down concerns of crackdown on social media content, says the step is taken to protect national security
  • Experts call it an ‘Internet surveillance mechanism’ that can easily become a threat to individual privacy and freedom of expression
Updated 30 June 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is installing a national firewall to filter and block “propaganda and unwanted content” online, enhance its capacity to protect digital data from hackers and ensure cybersecurity, confirmed a top government official on Sunday, emphasizing the measure was not aimed at curtailing dissent on social media.
A firewall is a network security device that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security parameters. It constitutes a barrier that sits between a private internal network and the public Internet. The main purpose of a firewall is to allow non-threatening traffic in and to keep dangerous and undesirable traffic out.
Pakistan’s Internet regulatory body, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), already possesses the technological ability to block unwanted content and prevent the access of local users to specific websites. However, the installation of the national firewall is expected enhance its capability to filter and monitor the Internet content on a wider scale.
“The PTA is trying to enhance its capability through the installation of the national firewall to block propaganda, unwanted content on the Internet besides ensuring data protection and cybersecurity,” a top Ministry of Information Technology official told Arab News on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to media about the issue.
“The PTA is installing the firewall to boost national security,” he added. “The Internet users should not worry about any crackdown or limiting their views and traffic.”
Pakistan has frequently blocked the Internet and social media applications in the name of national security in recent years, prompting digital rights activists to express reservations over the firewall and its likely utilization to filter the social media content and stifle dissenting voices.
“Try to see the firewall within a broader national interest perspective, not just from the social media prism,” the ministry official said, acknowledging the firewall could also be used for filtering and blocking the social media content.
He noted that just the installation of the firewall was not going to be enough to achieve the objective, adding it would also require a complete infrastructure and mechanism to process and analyze the data and initiate further necessary corrective actions.
However, he declined to reveal information about the cost and purchase of the firewall.
“Every country is using the firewall to protect its data and national interest,” he continued. “Therefore, we should not worry about it.”
The PTA did not respond to Arab News’ queries until the filing of this report.
Information technology experts warned the advantages and disadvantages of a firewall would depend on its usage and the subsequent actions.
“We could use this firewall to block our users’ access to content like Islamophobia and pornography while filtering out content spreading propaganda against our national institutions,” Muhammad Zohaib Khan, Chairman of Pakistan IT Industry Association, the main representative body for the country’s IT and IT-enabled services, told Arab News. “This will help us protect against cyberattacks against our digital assets.”
He maintained the installation of the firewall was a “good step,” though he admitted its “benefits will depend on its use.
“As long as it doesn’t hurt the IT industry, we support the initiative,” he added.
Mubashir Sargana, a cybersecurity professional and an Internet public policy researcher, said the firewall would help the authorities identify the originator and recipients of specific content along with the whole chain involved in further spreading that it on social media and websites.
“Specific hashtags and keywords will be entered to filter the content and get real time popups with which the authorities will be able to easily track down its originator and recipients,” he said.
“This is basically an Internet surveillance mechanism that can easily become a threat to privacy and freedom of expression,” Sargana added. “Only time will tell if the authorities are going to use the firewall to boost cybersecurity or hound and curb online dissent.”

Topics: Firewall Pakistan internet

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