Morning Buzz for June 19, 2012 – MR Securities

Karachi, June 19, 2012 (PPI-OT): REPAYMENT OF SBA’S THIRD INSTALLMENT TO IMF LATER THIS MONTH

According to MR Securities, Pakistan is scheduled to repay the third instalment worth $107 million of the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the last week of this month.

DOMESTIC DEBT SERVICING: INTEREST PAYMENT REVISED UPWARD TO RS 771 BILLION
The government has revised upward interest payment estimated in budget for domestic debt servicing to Rs 771 billion from Rs 714 billion for the current fiscal year, reveals budget documents.

EXIT FROM IMF: SBA LED TO LOW EXTERNAL INFLOWS: AGP
The country suffered Rs 755.5 billion exchange loss during the last four years (2008 to 2011), Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) revealed in its audit report on the Ministry of Finance performance with respect to Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act 2005.

PPCBL RECOVERS NPLS WORTH RS 425.786 MILLION
The Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited (PPCBL) has recovered Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) worth Rs 425.786 million from Lahore zone out of total liability of Rs 1740.382 million.

NET PROFIT OF SBP DECLINED BY 3.1 PERCENT IN FISCAL YEAR 2011: AGP
The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) in its annual report has revealed that the net profit of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for 2010-11 declined by 3.1 per cent despite 16.4 per cent increase in interest mark-up and discount income as compared to 2009-10.

POWER MINISTER FLAYS PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER FOR ”STAGING” POWER RIOTS: ”LOADSHEDDING TO END WITHIN THREE MONTHS”
Minister for Water and Power, Ahmad Mukhtar announced on Monday that electricity loadshedding would be reduced within three months.

COMMITTEE FAILS TO DEVISE PLAN
The government has failed to devise any plan to tackle the growing gap in demand and supply of electricity, leading to crippling load shedding and violent protest especially in Punjab province.

425 MEGAWATTS NANDIPUR POWER PROJECT: GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO RAISE SOVEREIGN GUARANTEE TO RS 19.150 BILLION
The government has decided to raise amount of sovereign guarantee from Rs 5.3 billion to Rs 19.150 billion in favour of local banks syndicate for 425MW Nandipur power project.

PSO REDUCES OIL SUPPLY TO THERMAL POWER HOUSES
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has reduced furnace oil supply from 33,000 tons to 8,000 tons per day to thermal power houses.

BANKS NOT WILLING TO EXTEND LOAN TO WAPDA: GOVERNMENT MAY ISSUE RS 10 BILLION GUARANTEE FOR WATER PROJECTS
The federal government is likely to issue GoP guarantee of Rs 10 billion to be raised from local banks for water sector projects as banks are not willing to extend loan to Wapda directly.

ABANDONMENT/SUSPENSION OF WELL DRILLING: OGDCL FACES RS 1.225 BILLION LOSS Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) said that Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) faced a loss of Rs 1.225 billion due to abandonment/suspension of drilling of a well.

SNGPL DISCONNECTS GAS SUPPLY TO ENGRO, DHCL FERTILISER PLANTS The government has issued directives to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited for immediate suspension of gas supply to fertiliser sector and diversion of the gas to power sector.

ECC TO SET UP JEM TO RESOLVE IPPS-SNGPL DISPUTE The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet will set up Joint Expert Mediation (JEM) to resolve dispute between IPPs and SNGPL over Rs 736 million claims of IPPs.

CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT SWELLS TO $3.77BN IN 11 MONTHS Pakistan’s current account deficit has swelled to $3.77 billion during the first eleven months (July 2011 to May 2012) of the outgoing fiscal year 2011-12 against the nominal deficit of $79 million in the corresponding period last year.

RECEIVABLES OF EIGHT IPPS REACH RS61.401BN
The receivables of eight independent power producers (IPPs) against the government have reached Rs61.401 billion, while receivables of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) have crossed Rs185 billion.

GOVT CLEARS 61 NEW PROJECTS WORTH RS515B
Contrary to the resolve of reducing backlog by allocating more funds to ongoing projects, the government cleared 61 new projects costing Rs51b, a move which will put further strain on the scarce resources.