Achi news desk-
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was bullish on Thursday as the KSE 100 index recorded a historic high after gaining over 661 points.
At 11:54am the benchmark KSE-100 index was at 67,208 points compared to the previous session’s close of 66,547.
Arif Habib Limited, a brokerage house, noted in a post on X that the PSX saw an “all-time high” when it crossed 67,094 marks which was the previous high “in a day”.
“The KSE-100 index increased by 582 points (67,130 points, +0.87%, within a day) DoD; surpassing its previous high of 67,094 points (intraday basis),” he said on X, formerly Twitter
According to experts, the positive trend reflects recent economic developments such as Islamabad holding successful negotiations with the mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the government’s privatization plans.
Earlier this week, the privatization and restructuring plan of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was approved by its recently established board of directors.
Muhammad Sohail, an economic analyst, said the bullish trend reflects the newly elected government’s rapid moves towards privatisation, which is a positive development for investors.
The analyst said News Geo that the reason behind the bullish run was the smooth negotiations held with the Fund’s mission that visited Pakistan in mid-March and discussed another program as well as the global lender.
“Another reason why this has happened is the news in the stock exchange about keeping Pakistan in the emerging market by FTSE – an index provider in the United Kingdom – which increased the focus of foreigners,” he said.
Sohail added that Pakistan received about $50 million worth of investment from foreign investors at PSX almost two months after the elections.
When Khaqan Najeeb was asked if the government would make any business friendly policies, he responded by saying firstly that there is a stable government supported by the strong measures taken by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for the six last month.
Secondly, he added, the IMF program provides an umbrella for Pakistan to deal with its international gross financing needs – which remains a perennial issue and is currently being intensified, as the country needs $25 billion every year.
“There is macro-stability in the country,” he told News Geoadding that it is easier to understand in terms of the increase in reserves and inflation tending to decrease, and the current account of Pakistan, although the economy has been slowed down to control it.
Talking about state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Najeeb said that Pakistan has been forced to do something about them.
He spoke of urging past governments to do something about loss-making SOEs. “This is a good effort to get us out of PIA and focus towards the energy sector.”
The expert added that foreign interest will turn to Pakistan after the FTSE status for the next six months. He also spoke about the benefits of other sources of investment in the country such as the property sector, which will also affect the economic trends.
“Overall, it’s a good picture developing for Pakistan, if we can sustain it.”
