Pak Tanks: Forex Reserves Plunge Threatening Imports, Scarcity of Meds, Firms Halt Ops

In an indication of bleak occasions forward for Pakistan, the international trade reserves held by the nation’s central financial institution — State Bank of Pakistan — fell to $4.5 billion, after the nation returned over $1 billion loans of two international industrial banks, hardly sufficient to finance 25 days of import. Meanwhile, corporations are halting their operations in Pakistan.

Reserves are anticipated to fall additional after reimbursement of loans price $1.2 billion to UAE’s banks.

LIFE-THREATENING TURN

The ongoing greenback scarcity within the nation has now taken one other threatening flip, as there’s a shortage of life-saving medication and gear in hospitals.

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Fujifilm Pakistan CEO Syed Haider Ali Naqvi stated the section, which his firm makes a speciality of, has been unable to open Letters of Credit (LCs) as per its ordinary banking cycle and this growth would possibly set off a extreme scarcity of X-ray, CT and MRI movies for the primary time within the nation’s historical past.

PRODUCTION SUSPENDED

Millat Tractors has notified the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that it’s going to droop manufacturing actions on January 6, in perpetuity. Millat has cited a diminished calls for for tractors together with the corporate’s personal money circulate constraints as the rationale for its determination.

Crescent Fibres Ltd is curbing manufacturing by as much as 50% owing to “widespread demand destruction,” it advised shareholders on Tuesday. Suraj Textile Mills Ltd introduced it was bringing down its manufacturing by 40%. Nishat Chunian Ltd additionally introduced its partial shutdown as a result of of poor enterprise circumstances. Similarly, Kohinoor Spinning Mills Ltd briefly shut down manufacturing partly as a result of of a excessive manufacturing price and low demand.

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Frontier Ceramics Limited (FRCL), the makers of ceramic tiles, sanitary wares and associated ceramic merchandise, introduced in a discover to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that it has shut down its flooring tile manufacturing plant for an “uncertain period”.

The administration of Baluchistan Wheels Limited (BWHL) knowledgeable the PSX that it had determined to briefly shut or cease manufacturing exercise as a consequence of depressed demand of autos out there.

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) expressed concern over the experiences that the industrial banks are resisting the opening of LCs of edible oil importers.

Indus Motors Company (IMC), the maker of Toyota automobiles, has already shut down its manufacturing plant within the nation from December 30, citing a delay in import approvals from the SBP.

US GAVE HELP

The United States (US) supplied about USD 60 million in humanitarian help for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Pakistani host communities throughout 2022, the US ambassador stated on Thursday.

“In Fiscal Year 2022 alone, the US provided nearly USD 60 million (more than Pak Rs 13 billion) in assistance to the refugees and their host communities,” the US embassy stated in an announcement, quoting ambassador Donald Blome.

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He additionally stated that the United States has supplied greater than USD 273 million (almost Pak Rs 62 billion) since 2002 for the Afghan refugees and thanked Pakistan for “generously internet hosting Afghan refugees for greater than 4 many years.” This US assistance is increasing school enrolment for Afghan and Pakistani children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; improving Pakistani healthcare services and boosting nutrition programs in areas hosting Afghans; promoting livelihood activities for refugees and host communities; improving water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure; and supporting recovery from the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the embassy statement.

Pakistan has been hosting nearly 3 million Afghan refugees, almost half of them living illegally while the other half have special cards to live and work. Most of the Afghan refugees were displaced in the 1980s during Russian intervention in the country.

With PTI Inputs

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