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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 214 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
PESHAWAR MOSQUE ATTACK
COAS direCtS COmmAnderS tO fOCuS On Anti-terrOr OperAtiOnS g
Gen munir says cowardly acts cannot shake resolve of nation
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toP military brass reaffirms suPPort for indiGenous freedom struGGle of kashmiris
Pakistan, IMF agree to fiscal reforms amid talks on ninth review iSLAMABAD staff report
rAWALpiNDi
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staff report
hief of army staff (coas) General syed asim munir tuesday directed all army commanders to continue focus on anti-terrorism operations in coordination with intelligence and law enforcement agencies (leas) with renewed resolve till the time we achieve sustainable peace. addressing the participants of the 255th corps commanders’ conference held here at the GhQ, General syed asim munir said that immoral and cowardly acts like Peshawar mosque attack cannot shake resolve of the nation rather reinvigorate its determination to succeed in ongoing war against terror with Zero tolerance for any terrorist entity. top military brass was briefed in detail about prevailing and emerging threats, situation in the indian illegally occupied jammu and kashmir (iiojk) and ongoing intelligence-based operations being undertaken by army and leas for breaking the nexus between terrorists and their support mechanism across the country. the forum paid rich tributes to the martyrs
of Peshawar police line blast and vowed that perpetrators will be brought to exemplary justice. the forum, taking notice of human rights violations and indian design to alter demo-
graphics of iiojk, reaffirmed army’s commitment to Pakistan’s principal support to indigenous freedom struggle of brave kashmiri people as per relevant un resolutions and aspirations of the people of the kashmir.
Injured cops vow fight back as blast toll rises to 100 PESHAWAR: The death toll rose to 100 on Tuesday, a day after the suicide blast that rocked a mosque in Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines in Peshawar as more dead bodies were dug out from the rubble on the blast site. According to the spokesman of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Muhammad Asim, until now 100 dead bodies had been received from the Peshawar mosque blast site. He informed that until now there were 53 injured of the blast, admitted to different wards of the hospital including seven in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), adding that most of the injured were in stable condition. He said that free-of-charge medical treatment, surgeries, tests, and medicines were being provided to the injured at the hospital. Meanwhile, Director General Health Dr Sahib Gul Khan visited LRH and inquired after the health of the injured policemen. He went to every injured person and directed the hospital administration to provide best medical facilities to them. He also prayed for the early recovery of the injured. InjUReD CoPS UnfAzeD by TeRRoR: Meanwhile, the policemen injured in the deadly blast at the mosque on Tuesday expressed the resolve to continue the fight against terrorism and extremism to protect the motherland from the menace. staff report
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federal minister for finance and revenue senator mohammad ishaq dar on tuesday began discussions with with imf review mission led by imf mission chief mr nathan Porter on the country’s economic and fiscal policies and reforms required for completion of the much-delayed ninth review of a $7 billion under extended fund facility (eff). finance minister senator ishaq dar welcomed the delegation and shared long standing friendly relations with the imf. he briefed the mission on fiscal and economic reforms and measures being taken by the Government in different sectors including bridging the fiscal gap, exchange rate stability and in energy sector for the betterment of the economy. he apprised that reforms are being introduced in power sector and a high level committee has been formed for devising modalities to offset the menace of circular debt in gas sector. imf resident representative ms esther Perez ruiz, minister of state for finance and revenue dr aisha Ghous Pasha, saPm on finance tariq bajwa, saPm on revenue tariq mehmood Pasha, Governor state bank of Pakistan mr jamil ahmed, sec-
retary finance, the fbr chairman, members of imf delegation and senior officers from finance division attended the meeting. during the meeting, both sides discussed and reviewed the economic and fiscal policies and reforms agenda to accomplish the 9th review under the extended fund facility. the finance minister also extended gratitude to the managing director of imf on continuation of talks and shared that as finance minister he had successfully completed the imf programme in the past and that the Government was committed to complete the present programme. he further extended all his support to the mission and committed to work together for reaching an agreement to complete the 9th review under extended fund facility (eff). mr. nathan Porter, imf mission chief expressed his confidence that the government will meet the imf requirements for the completion of the 9th review and hoped that Pakistan would continue towards its progress on the reforms in various sectors and complete the imf Programme within time effectively. he further added that imf and Pakistan will be working together on fiscal reforms.
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Has the US dollar rate peaked? g
Greed, artificial adjustments, month-end limits or imf talks? Profit unPacks mystery of dollar droP and exPlains why monday’s droP miGht be a one-off event profit report BaBar Nizami
the value of the dollar fell by almost rs 5 in the early trade on tuesday, as the greenback settled the day’s trade at rs 267.89 with a gain of rs 1.7 in the interbank market. a similar trend was observed in the open market today with the currency dealers asking for rs 269 per usd, against the previous day’s rate of rs 275 per usd, leaving many to ponder the reasons behind this sudden drop in the dollar rate. while the decline in the dollar rate in the open market is commonly assumed to be a result of speculative behavior, with more people willing to sell their dol-
lars than those willing to buy, particularly in light of the ongoing talks between the government and imf, the reality on the ground was very different. however in order to understand what forces were at play in the open market we need to first see the interbank market and understand specific dynamics that have led to the dollar slipping in value slightly. What happened in the interbank market according to sources familiar with its workings, the drop is attributed mainly to the monthly import limits set by the state bank of Pakistan (sbP) for each bank for import of non-essential imports. with most banks having exhausted these limits for the month of
december, there was very little pressure in the interbank market to make import payments on the last day of the month. with the interbank market experiencing a temporary decline in demand, coupled with a relatively higher supply of dollars through official channels on the back of the interbank rate going as high as rs 270 yesterday. “this extra supply with a temporary drop in demand has led the interbank market to cool off for a day. assuming nothing else changes, i expect that with the new month, demand pressure will start building again which could drive up the price of the dollar again,” said one analyst talking on condition of anonymity. according to another analyst, with a limit
on buy-sell spread, it also made sense for the banks to offer less to exporters on a day when they didn’t have to sell too many dollars to the importers. But what about the open market then? one would assume that a rs 5 drop in the dollar rate must have been caused by excess supply in the open market with too many people selling their dollar holdings now. instead, it was observed that currency dealers had almost no dollars to sell on tuesday. then what caused the price to drop? some believe that the open market was following the lead of the interbank market, with currency exchange companies hesitant to buy dollars at higher
rates in fear of selling at a loss if the rate were to drop again. on the other hand, some currency dealers were trying to make a quick buck by artificially lowering the dollar rate. the hope was that people would start panic selling after seeing the sudden drop in both interbank and open market rates, thus currency dealers were choosing to only buy the currency at these low rates. that said, analysts believe that it was always expected that after the removal of the artificial cap on dollar rate, the price of the dollar would overshoot, peak and then come down slightly to settle and stabilize at a relatively lower rate, especially after successful completion of the 9th review. it seems that has not happened yet.