Political Turmoil Puts Pakistan’s Economy in State of Ambivalence
Pakistan’s stock market lost 3,058 points in the last 4 trading sessions that was the biggest slump since March, 2020
Due to political uncertainty and fear of third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan, the country’s economy experienced a mixed situation during the past couple of weeks as stock market witnessed highest four-day losing streak but inflow of remittances maintained strength of Pakistani rupees (PKR) against United States Dollar (USD).
As per sources, Pakistan’s stock market lost 3,058 points in the last 4 trading sessions that are the highest after March 18, 2020, and the index reached 63 sessions low.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another distress with the benchmark index losing over 1,000 points intraday.
Apart from stock exchange, on the bright side, remittances in Pakistan continued to show exceptional performance in February this year.
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As per sources, remittance inflow into Pakistan jumped nearly by 24.2% to 2.26 billion compared with the same period a year ago.
“Policy measures are undertaken by the government and SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) to encourage inflows through formal channels, limited cross-border travel due to COVID-19, medical expenses and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic, and orderly exchange market conditions, contributed to this sustained rise in workers’ remittances, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) maintained.
Remittances continued exceptional performance in Feb21, reaching $2.26bn, up 24.2% compared to Feb20 and roughly same as last month. Cumulatively, they rose to an unprecedented $18.7bn during Jul-Feb FY21, up 24.1% compared to the same period last year: https://t.co/7XBd4uNES4 pic.twitter.com/TBVu1Aifv5
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) March 11, 2021
In an exceptional performance, the remittances rose to an unprecedented $18.7 billion during the fiscal year 2020-2021.
Additionally, the run-off for USD continued and it was closed at 157.4 rupees in the interbank on March 11. However, the dollar was traded at around 157.25 rupees in open market.
The local currency showed strength as it continued its upward journey against USD.
