January
Pak-China FTA-II came into effect
The second phase of the free trade agreement came into force, which would allow Pakistani manufacturers and traders to export around 313 new products to the Chinese market with zero duties.
February
Pakistani group entered EV segment
Crown Group organised market testing and sales display of its three and four-wheel electric vehicles and announced plans to manufacture cars at its newly built 26-acre facility at Port Qasim. The plant had initial production capacity of 120,000 units per annum.
March
Pakistan’s GSP Plus status kept in place
The European Union decided to extend the GSP Plus facility for Pakistan for another two years. The status granted Pakistan duty-free access to EU markets in 91% tariff lines.
PSX recorded largest drop in history
The KSE-100 index of Pakistan’s bourse nosedived 2,376 points as investors dumped stocks on fears of negative impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on Pakistan’s economy.
April
Oil prices turned negative for first time
US crude oil futures collapsed below $0 for the first time in history amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil. Demand for oil disappeared as billions of people across the globe chose to stay at home to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Zero car sales
Pakistan’s auto industry endured the worst month for car sales in April and recorded zero sales.
May
Pakistan retained MSCI EM status
Pakistan successfully kept its May 2017 upgraded status in the global MSCI Emerging Market (EM) Index and staved off the threat of being downgraded to the Frontier Index in a semi-annual review.
Mobile phone policy approved
Federal government approved Pakistan’s first mobile phone manufacturing policy aimed at encouraging local production to counter the security threat emanating from handsets being manufactured in India.
August
ML-1 rail project got final approval
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Mainline-1 railway project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) worth $6.8 billion, paving the way for loan negotiations with Beijing, which would finance 90% of the cost.
Govt, IPPs reached accord to cut energy cost
Pakistan signed a new agreement with independent power producers (IPPs) to reduce cost of electricity generation and slash circular debt in the power sector
September
Pakistan won stay in Reko Diq case
World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) granted a stay on enforcement of a massive penalty of $6 billion imposed on Pakistan for its decision to deny a mining lease for the Reko Diq project to Australia’s Tethyan Copper Company (TCC).
October
Pakistan remained on FATF grey list
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gave yet another lifeline to Pakistan and decided to keep the country in its grey list for four more months while acknowledging the political commitment to ending deficiencies in the country’s anti-terror financing regime. The next review would take place in Feb 2021.
November
ADB issued first Pak rupee-based bonds
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised Rs1.83 billion ($11.4 million) through the first issue of rupee-based Karakoram bonds. Karakoram bond is an offshore bond denominated in Pakistani rupee and settled in US dollar, listed on a major stock exchange and settled through an international central securities depositary.
Country secured around $1b debt relief
Pakistan secured roughly $980 million worth of debt freeze deals with members of the G-20 club of richest countries.
December
Exporters challenged India’s GI claim on Basmati
Pakistan filed its opposition to India’s claim of geographical indication (GI) tag for Basmati rice in the European Union. India sought protection for its Basmati rice as a GI product in an attempt to hinder Pakistan’s growing exports and expansion of local Basmati segment.
Govt discontinued Rs25,000 prize bonds
Federal government discontinued bearer prize bonds of Rs25,000 denomination and gave a six-month deadline to investors to en cash or convert their savings of Rs164 billion aimed at addressing concerns of the Financial Action Task Force.
Virgin Atlantic kicked off flights to Pakistan
British airline Virgin Atlantic commenced its operations in Pakistan, becoming the latest international airline to start serving passengers in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2020.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ