Daily Times

The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) increased by about 900 points during Wednesday’s intraday trade as Islamabad completed the last pre-condition to resume the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan programme.

The benchmark KSE-100 index increased by 915.47 points or 2.28 percent to 41,107 points as of 1:59 p.m. from its opening value of 40,191.61 points.

Additionally, when investors took on new holdings, positive financial results, rupee appreciation versus the US dollar, and an anticipated drop in oil import bills fueled the bullish trend.

Dr. Khaqan Hassan Najeeb, an economist and former counsel to the federal ministry of finance, advised investors to keep in mind that company earnings are the real driver of share prices.

“But more recently, the macro fundamentals of the country have been dominant in driving the PSX lower,” he said, noting that as the country inches back to an IMF programme, investor confidence can return to PSX.

“Valuations are low and astute investors know it is a reasonable time to buy at low P/Es, companies with good earnings and solid management.”

Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schezad said that once Pakistan gets IMF’s $1.2bn, there will be unlocking of multilateral inflows, followed by bilateral and friendly countries

There will be significantly fewer imports as a result of the inflows and the recession on a global and local level, which will reduce the demand for dollar outflows.

“This should help improve the rupee against the US dollar, at least for some time. It should impact the PSX positively too,” he added.

IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said in a statement Tuesday the country has completed the last prerequisite — increasing the PDL (petroleum development levy) — for the loan programme.

The IMF official added that a board meeting is tentatively scheduled for late August once adequate financing assurances are confirmed.

The country reached a staff-level agreement with the lender earlier this month but the delay in the disbursement has put pressure on the country’s faltering economy amid a deepening political crisis.

Imran Khan, a former prime minister, approved a $6 billion bailout deal in 2019, but it constantly stalled because of his administration’s violation of subsidy agreements and poor tax collection.

The new accord comes after months of wildly unpopular belt-tightening by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration, which came to office in April and has since abolished fuel subsidies, raised electricity prices, and implemented new policies to widen the tax base.

Islamabad has so far received $3 billion from the initiative, but officials requested an extension until June 2023 because the facility is set to close later this year.