According to data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday, the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves declined by roughly 8% on a weekly basis.
SBP Exchange
The SBP’s foreign exchange holdings were valued at $4.244 billion on March 24, down $354 million from the 4.599 billion on March 17. The drop was attributed to the repayment of external debt, according to a statement from the central bank.
The nation’s total liquid foreign currency holdings, which include net reserves held by institutions other than the SBP were $9.816 billion, an increase of $323 million from the previous week.
With $5.572 billion, the banks’ net reserves showed a week-over-week gain of $31 million. The present reserves, according to Arif Habib Limited, are sufficient for an import cover of less than a month.
The World Bank reports that during the past two decades, Pakistan’s investment has seen severe boom-and-bust cycles, with growth averaging just 3.1% per year in 2000-2011, one of the lowest average growth rates in the South Asia Region (SAR).
According to the World Bank’s latest report, “Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects Edited by Trends, Expectations, and Policies,” in order to increase macroeconomic stability in Pakistan, the country has strengthened the central bank’s functional and administrative autonomy, banned government borrowing from the central bank, and made price stability its primary objective for monetary policy.
Improving macroeconomic stability (avoiding destabilising boom-bust cycles), boosting international competitiveness, and fostering equity and inclusion were also highlighted as top priorities in Pakistan to increase potential growth.
Boosting the financial sustainability of the energy industry, enhancing revenue mobilisation and expenditure efficiency to better support development-promoting public investment, and tightening insolvency arrangements and creditor rights are all policies that could be helpful to growth.
Future economic prospects are extremely sensitive to how the COVID-19 epidemic and climate change play out in the coming years.
Although the effects of both are difficult to predict, they will almost certainly be detrimental, and there is a chance that they will be extremely harmful. The key to achieving sustainable growth is policies that address these difficulties.
Investment in Pakistan has experienced severe boom-and-bust economic growth cycles over the past two decades,
Pakistan’s growth averaging just 3.1% per year between 2000-2011, is one of the lowest annual growth rates in SAR. Investment growth in the 2011-2015 period peaked at close to 16 percent in fiscal year 2014-15 and remained robust for several years thereafter.
Both the China-Pakistan Economic Partnership infrastructure project and the building of a petrol pipeline from the Islamic Republic of Iran contributed significantly to the increase in 2015.
Western China will be linked to the Arabian Sea via the Gwadar Port in Pakistan by the former project, which is part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” concept.
Investment fell by 17 percent in the two fiscal years ending in June 2020, largely as a result of the epidemic, and the recovery since then has been weak.
According to government projections for fiscal year 2021-22, spending was still 11% below its all-time high in fiscal year 2017-18. It is expected that severe flooding in 2022 may further delay fixed investment during the next two years.
The survey found that construction, finance, retail and wholesale trade, telecommunications, and healthcare investment were all impeded by entrance and administrative barriers in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
During a meeting with the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, officials from the Ministry of Finance stated that the federal government was unable to address the issue of phantom pensioners.
As a result, the pension bill has risen to Rs. 609 billion as of Wednesday.
According to the government, approximately 949,000 seniors out of a total of 3.23 million are still collecting their pensions manually. Surprisingly, this estimate includes over 6,600 “ghost pensioners.”
