MORNING SHOUT - 30TH JULY 2021

Economy & Politics

Centre disapproves of Karachi lockdown as Sindh mulls curbs

As the Covid-19 situation continues to deteriorate in Karachi,
federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives
Asad Umar on Thursday rejected the idea of closing entire cities to
curb the spread of coronavirus.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1637707/centre-disapproves-ofkarachi-lockdown-as-sindh-mulls-curbs

SNGPL wants connections quota to be raised to 1.2m

The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) says that the only
way the company can clear its backlog of millions of applications
for new connections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the
next three years is to increase its annual quota to 1.2 million
domestic connections.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1637673/sngpl-wants-connectionsquota-to-be-raised-to-12m

Short supply from Iran behind outages in Balochistan: minister

Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said on Thursday the
government has taken up with Iran the issue of reduced electricity
supply from the neighbouring country, which is causing hours-long
outages in Balochistan.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1637671/short-supply-from-iranbehind-outages-in-balochistan-minister

Tarin sees production of affordable vehicles under new policy

The draft Auto Industry Development and Export Policy (AIDEP) is
aimed at promotion of auto industry in the country by increasing
the production of cars, motorcycles, tractors at affordable rates,
Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1637675/tarin-sees-production-ofaffordable-vehicles-under-new-policy

Private sector struggles as banks lend less 

Commercial banks lending to the private sector fell from 24.1
percent of the GDP in 1995 to 17.9 percent in 2019, checking the
latter’s economic growth and boosting the former’s profitability.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/870440-private-sectorstruggles-as-banks-lend-less

Forex reserves fall to $24.875bln 

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $253 million or
1.0 percent in the week ended July 23, the State Bank of Pakistan
(SBP) said on Thursday. The country’s total liquid foreign stood at
$24.875 billion, compared with $25.128 billion a week ago.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/870448-forex-reserves-fall-to24-875bln