Investors Celebrate Pakistan's Continuing Economic Recovery

Pakistan's benchmark KSE-100 index hit an all-time high after the announcement of the $7 billion IMF bailout deal today. Economic indicators such as inflation, exports and remittances are also showing significant improvement as well. Speaking to reporters after the IMF deal,  the Fund Managing Director  Kristalina Georgieva acknowledged progress made by Pakistan. She said  "The economy is on the sound path. Growth is up and inflation is down". The KSE-100 index rose in early trade to a record high of 82,905.73 points, before giving up those gains later in the day to close 0.7% down at 81,657. It still represents an annual gain of nearly 100%. 

Pakistani Stock Market Outperforms Asian Peers. Source: Bloomberg

Pakistan rupee has remained essentially stable at around Rs. 277 to a US dollar over the last year. Inflation has come down from 37% last year to less than 10% this year.  Exports have climbed 10.54% ($2.921 billion) to $30.645 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24 compared to $27.724 billion in the corresponding period of 2022-23. Overseas workers' remittances have surged 44% to $5.94 billion in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year 2024-25, compared to the same period last year.  Current account deficit has declined to $681 million in FY24 from $3.275 billion in FY23. The budget deficit for the 2023–2024 fiscal year has been reduced to 6.8% of GDP from 7.7% in the previous year. 

The stock market gains are driven primarily by the increasing profitability of the firms making up the index, in addition to improvement in macroeconomic indicators. The companies listed on Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index have reported their highest-ever earnings of Rs1.7 trillion in FY24, marking a 25% year-on-year increase from Rs1.3 trillion in FY23. In US dollar terms, profits after tax (PAT) rose 10% to $5.8 billion during the same period, according to data compiled by brokerage firm Topline Securities.  Dividend payouts soared 30% as banking, fertilizer, and cement sectors led growth, according to media reports. 

Pakistan has a long tough road ahead to carry out the reforms promised to the IMF in the latest bailout deal. Renegotiating unsustainable IPP (Independent Power Producers) contracts and carrying out long-delayed  privatization of state-owned enterprises to reduce major drain on the taxpayers will not be easy, Boosting tax collection is not easy either. Offering incentives for savings, investments and exports while reducing budget deficits is a difficult feat. It will take a lot of fortitude, finesse and political will to get the results to improve the economy. Pakistani leaders' biggest challenge is to find a way to grow the economy to create enough jobs for the country's growing working age population. Failure to do so could cause major social unrest in the nuclear-armed country of 240 million people. 

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Pakistani Diaspora Bucks Global Trend With 2.8% Higher Remittances in 2016

Pakistani diaspora bucked the 2016 global decline in remittances with a modest 2.8% increase over 2015, according to a recently released World Bank report. An estimated $19.8 billion remitted to Pakistan amounted to 6.9% of the country's GDP. This is a welcome relief coming on the heels of the State Bank of Pakistan report indicating the country's current account deficit widened to $6.13 billion or 2.6% of GDP in the first 9 months of fiscal 2017.

2016 Remittances to South Asia. Source: World Bank

Global Decline:

Meanwhile, global remittance flows to developing countries registered a decline for two successive years, said the report.  Remittances declined by an estimated 2.4 percent, to $429 billion, in 2016, after a decline of 1 percent in 2015. India, the largest remittance-receiving country worldwide, led the fall with a decrease of 8.9 percent in remittance inflows.

South Asia Region:

Remittances to India declined by 8.9 percent in 2016, to $62.7 billion, ranking the country as the top recipient of such inflows.  In Bangladesh, remittances declined by an estimated 11.1 percent in 2016. In Pakistan, the 12 percent growth witnessed in 2015 moderated to an estimated 2.8 percent in 2016. Nepal experienced unusually high growth in remittances, at 14.3 percent in 2015, due to emigrants sending financial assistance after the earthquake. In 2016, remittance flows to Nepal declined by an estimated 6.7 percent from the previous year’s high level. In Sri Lanka, remittance growth was estimated at 3.9 percent in 2016.

Next Year Forecast:

The World Bank says the remittance growth in the region is projected to remain muted, because of low growth and fiscal consolidation in GCC countries with low energy prices. An increase of only 2.0 percent is expected in 2017. Bangladesh’s remittance growth in 2017 is forecast at 2.4 percent, India’s at 1.9 percent, Pakistan’s at 1.4 percent, and Sri Lanka’s at 1.3 percent.

Summary:

World Bank report says Pakistani diaspora bucked the 2016 global decline in remittances with a modest 2.8% increase over 2015. An estimated $19.8 billion remitted to Pakistan amounted to 6.9% of the country's GDP. This is a welcome relief coming on the heels of the State Bank of Pakistan report indicating the country's current account deficit widened to $6.13 billion or 2.6% of GDP in the first 9 months of fiscal 2017. Future growth in remittances is likely to remain muted. Slowing growth in such inflows will further increase pressure on Pakistan to work on enhancing exports and attracting more foreign direct investment.

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Indian Economy: Hard or Soft Landing in 2011?

Pakistan's economy had a hard landing in 2008. It was triggered by a balance of payments crisis brought about through precipitous decline in foreign capital inflows combined with policy inaction in response to major external shocks in terms of food and fuel prices during political transition. Is the Indian economy similarly vulnerable in 2011? Is it headed for significant slowdown in the next twelve months? And if it is, can the Indian leadership manage a soft landing through major policy actions now?

To answer these questions, let us examine the following facts:

1. India's current account deficit widened sharply to $13.7 billion in the June-quarter, which was around 3.7 per cent of GDP. The deficit was $4.5 billion in the same period year ago.



2. India's FDI has declined by a third from $34.6 billion in 2009 to $23.7 billion in 2010. Its current account deficit is being increasingly funded by short-term capital inflows (FII up 66% from $17.4 billion in 2009 to $29 billion in 2010) rather than more durable foreign direct investment (FDI), posing a risk to external balance and funding of gap, according to a recent warning by Goldman Sachs. "Nearly 80 per cent of the capital inflows are non- FDI related. Given the excess spare capacity globally, FDI may remain weak going forward," the Goldman note said.





3. Inflation in India is running at a double digit pace as is credit expansion. India's primary articles price index was up 15.35 percent in the latest week compared with an annual rise of 13.25 percent a week earlier, data on Thursday showed. Year-over-year credit growth was 23 per cent till December 3, while deposit growth was only 15 per cent, as compared to RBI's projection of 20 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, for 2010-11.



4. India's Food and fuel prices are continuing to rise by double digits. The food price index rose more than 12 percent, with the price of onions -- the country's most widely-eaten vegetable -- of especial concern, while the fuel price index climbed 10.74 percent. This compared with 9.46 percent and 10.67 percent respectively in the previous week.

5. The oil prices are likely to spike as the American and European economies recover in 2011, prompting Indian commerce secretary Rahul Kullar to acknowledge that “I am not sanguine. One blip on crude prices and my import bill suddenly zooms. On pro-rata basis we are looking at $ 120 billion with a caveat that if oil prices go up, it could be $ 130-135 billion”. Crude oil prices are currently running at $ 87-88 per barrel.



While China's situation is better because it enjoys significant current account surpluses and has strong capital flow controls, it is also seeing its economy overheat along with India's economy. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate Columbia University economist, has argued that India is more vulnerable to an asset bubble than China, saying that “strong economies that don’t yet have capital control become the focal point” for the liquidity injected by the US Federal Reserve. Stiglitz thinks that India, more than China or Brazil, should watch out for the tidal wave of money made available from the Fed’s quantitative easing. Mike Shedlock, an American investment advisor, believes that "India and China are going to overheat and crash, or their economic growth is going to slow dramatically, quite possibly both".

Indian President Pratibha Patil said last week that she is confident the economy will grow at about 9 percent in the current fiscal year ending March 2011 and would be on a sustained growth path of about 9 to 10 percent in FY12, according to Reuters. It is quite surprising that the Indian government continues to talk about increasing levels of economic growth in 2010-2011 and beyond amidst growing inflation and rising imbalances in the Indian economy. What they should be thinking about now is how to manage a soft landing by reducing liquidity and cutting India's twin deficits, rather than stepping on the accelerator and risk a big economic crash with long term negative consequences.

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