Decline in the Stock Exchange, a Decrease of 500 points in the 100 index
The benchmark KSE 100 Index lost more than 500 points in the first hour of trading on Monday due to selling pressure on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
According to the PSX website, the 100 Index was at 43,101 points at the start of trading, but soon saw a decline of 400 points and at 9:30 am the index went down again after a slight improvement.
At 12 o’clock, the index was down 526 points, or 1.22%.
The stock exchange slump came as Finance Minister Muftah Ismail was on his way to Doha for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive a 6 6 billion loan program, which had been suspended since early April. Has happened
Finance Minister Muftah Ismail had told reporters at Jinnah International Airport that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had ruled out the possibility of ending subsidies on petroleum products, which PTI announced in February. Was introduced by the government.
Regarding the strict conditions of IMF, he said that according to the promise of Shaukat Tareen, an increase of up to Rs. 150 on petroleum products is required but it will not happen. I have forbidden it. ۔
Raza Jaffery, head of equities at Intermarket Securities, said the market was under pressure, and it was time for the government to make quick decisions for the economy, but the government was delaying.
He said that Pakistan could not afford to get up from the negotiating table without negotiating the level of staff till the end of negotiations with the IMF this week.
Experts have repeatedly said that Pakistan must immediately abolish fuel and energy subsidies, which are a prerequisite for IMF debt restoration.
He said the new coalition government’s insistence on continuing subsidies was hurting investor sentiment.
Ahsan Mohanty, director of Arif Habib Corporation, told DawnNews.tv that the stock market is on a downward trend due to the expected rise in interest rates in the new monetary policy coming this evening.
He said that the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar was also a source of concern for investors, adding that if the announcement of Imran Khan’s sit-in increased political instability, the benchmark index could fall below 40,000 points.
The economy is on the brink of collapse due to government inaction
Both the PSX and the rupee have been under pressure since last week as the coalition government failed to make economic decisions, including the elimination of subsidies, especially on petroleum products.
According to a Dawn report, the frozen IMF program and rising import bills have hurt investor sentiment. April saw a historic rise in the oil import bill.
The IMF, in recent meetings with Federal Minister Muftah Ismail, has made the resumption of the program conditional on the removal of subsidies on petroleum products, but Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been rejecting several summaries from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the Finance Ministry. ۔
The PTI government had frozen electricity and petrol prices for four months from February 28 to June 30, with the aim of providing relief to the people.
Since the formation of the coalition government, the PML-N and other parties have sharply criticized Imran Khan’s government for derailing the IMF program through fuel subsidies.
However, even a month after coming to power, these parties have not been able to eliminate subsidies, although Finance Minister Muftah Ismail has repeatedly said that the government cannot bear the burden of subsidies and has to pay a subsidy of Rs 120 billion every month.
Earlier this month, Muftah Ismail had said that according to Imran Khan’s agreement with the IMF, the price of petrol in Pakistan should have been Rs. 245, but we are giving relief of Rs. Do not increase because the new government is having difficulty in making unpopular decisions in the eyes of the voters.
