Economic Forecasts

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves eased marginally to $16.90 billion in the week ending Jan. 6, from $16.92 billion the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $12.82 billion from $12.88 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $4.08 billion, compared with $4.04 billion the previous week.

Pakistan has been called on to utilise its political and diplomatic ties to boost its trade with the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) nations to support its domestic value-added textile industry.

The ECO is an intergovernmental regional organisation for promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among its 10 member states – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan’s economy and the financial sector are now at a stage where they can support and benefit from a vibrant and efficient debt market.

The size of private debt, or Term Finance Certificates (TFCs) in Pakistan, remained around Rs 74 billion (0.5% of GDP), which is paltry as compared to the outstanding domestic government debt of Rs 4.64 trillion (31.4% of GDP). There is clearly underexploited capacity available to support economic growth.

Pakistan’s economy may expand slower than forecast after floods devastated the nation’s southern region, a finance ministry official said.

The economic growth rate may be 0.5 percentage point lower than the government target of 4.2 percent according to initial estimates, the official, who was speaking to reporters in a background briefing, said in Islamabad today.

Dr Warner E Liepach, Country Director Asian Development Bank (ADB) has suggested Pakistan’s economic managers see beyond the current situation as the country has decided not to seek IMF programme for the time being.

As the US begins to scale back its combat role in Afghanistan, it needs to confront the more important question of Pakistan’s future. The US has been a major player there for 60 years — more intensely so since the 9/11 attacks. More >

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday told the youth that Pakistan should build a strong economy to win respect in the commity of nations. Talking with a group of youngsters in PTV programme Prime Minister Online – Eid Special, More >

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday said as Pakistan is the fifth largest producer of mangoes in the world, there was a need to exploiting mango export potential to its fullest in the $ one billion annual world-wide trade. “Though Pakistani mangoes are known for their quality and taste all over the world, this potential has not been exploited to its fullest in the one billion dollar world-wide trade of mangoes”, Gilani said while addressing Pakistan Mango Extravaganza, organized by the Minister of Commerce and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) here at a local hotel.

Rich imagery is important in describing Pakistan-China relations. Last year, on the morning of December 19, addressing a packed session of Pakistani parliament, Premier Wen Jiabao said that the friendship between our two countries is a “lush tree with deep roots and thick foliage, full of vigour and vitality. The sentimental bond between our people is thus a constant image. An aura of warmth and affection permeates our relations. Diplomats in Beijing and around the world hear with some amusement the poetic expressions suggesting that Pakistan-China friendship is for all weathers and time-tested, and that this relationship is taller than the Himalayas, and deeper than oceans, and that it is stronger than steel, and sweeter than honey. Some do offer envious compliments and ask about the secret of the longevity and depth of this relationship. The people of Pakistan and China evoke these poetic images with sincerity of conviction and feel that they still do not fully capture the depth of their feelings towards each other.

Despite the devastation caused by floods of previous year and the constrained availability of energy, the economy has been showing distinct signs of recovery, according to Business Barometer released by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) here Monday.

“The economy appears to have braved the devastating blow dealt by the unprecedented floods of August last and a sense of moderate optimism seems to have re-emerged despite the constrained availability of energy,” the Business Barometer said.