Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday set a new record due to an extraordinary rally and the record of the highest level of 100 index was broken. After the agreement with the IMF, the investors were once again mobilized by the government's clear policy on privatization. 

PIA's share has been the focus of investors' attention, with its share price rising 700 percent due to the projected revenue of $300 million from the privatization.  Cement, banking, oil and gas and other profitable sectors, the benchmark index increased by 641 points to reach 66 thousand 547 points, which is the highest level in history.  After the increase of 414 points in December 2023, the benchmark index reached a new level of 66 thousand 426. The bullish trend in the stock market continued on Thursday and the KSE 100 index crossed the 67,000 mark at 11 am. The said increase has been attributed to the positive development in the overall economic scenario. Experts say that the country's market is currently performing well with the highest growth in the last 6 months. Share prices of 51.37% companies increased on Wednesday.  Investment increased by 81 billion 74 crore 37 thousand rupees. 35 crore 45 lakh shares were traded in the market. The total volume of capital exceeded 93 trillion rupees.  The increase in the value of the Pakistani currency against the US dollar has also continued for the past three months.

The value of the rupee reached 278 rupees in the interbank market. The dollar also got cheaper by 7 paise in the open market.

Experts have described the finance minister's plan to improve the economy as the best, but they have also expressed the fear that the recent incidents of terrorism in the country and the death of five Chinese engineers associated with the Dasu Hydro Project may affect the government's plan to launch a $30 crore Pandabond in the Chinese market.

After the suicide bombing in Bisham on Tuesday, which killed five Chinese engineers, it has become necessary to focus more closely on the counter-terrorism strategy and to focus more on the security situtaion.  There is a visible activity against terrorism at the goverment, political and diplomatic levels which is a good omen.

The emergency meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday can be said to be a link in this series.  The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers, Army Chief General Asim Munir, Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Police IGs of relevant departments. In the meeting, the grief and sorrow of the entire nation was expressed over the loss of lives of Chinese citizens. Condolences were expressed to the families of the deceased and assured that the culprits of the Bisham incident will be brought to justice soon.

The country's civilian and military leadership reiterated its resolve to fight to the last to end enemies who harbor ill will towards Pakistan, its people and foreign visitors working here.

On this occasion, Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir said that the enemies of Pakistan have once again misjudged the courage and determination of the state and the people of Pakistan. We will fight the war against terrorism until every terrorist who has an evil eye on Pakistan, its people and foreign visitors working here, is eliminated.

The Army Chief said that we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that every foreign national, especially Chinese nationals who are contributing to the prosperity of Pakistan, are safe in Pakistan.

Behind these words of the Army Chief is the confidence of the military leader of a nation that has defeated the worst terrorism for two decades and wiped out terrorists to a large extent through Zarb-ul-Azb and Radd-al-Fasaad operations.

The above determination of the political and military leadership is the determination and voice of the hearts of the entire Pakistani nation.  This nation will also defeat the terrorists brought forward this time. But it should not be neglected that these acts of terrorism are related to the unrestrainedness of the militant groups in the neighboring country.  Unless effective measures are taken to prevent some activities of extremist groups in neighboring Afghanistan, the situation will not be easy not only for Pakistan but also for other countries in the region.  Years of experience show that extremism is neither beneficial for one country, nor profitable for another country, nor in the interest of the planet.

Entire regions are directly or indirectly affected by extremism and terrorism. On the other hand, the Chinese government has made legitimate demands to speed up the process of finding and punishing elements involved in terrorism, and to take effective measures to protect Chinese citizens and projects.

It has reiterated Pakistan's full support in the war against terrorism. While Islamabad has decided to form a JIT to investigate the Basham incident. The participants of the meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep concern over the safe havens of terrorists across the border and emphasized the need for a regional approach to combat terrorism, through which it is possible to prevent the use of one land against another  and to eliminate terrorism from the roots in the entire region. The purpose to say is that terrorism in the country can scare away foreign investors. So it should be the top priority of the government to fight out terrorism in all its forms. The positive trend at the PSX is a weclome development, but the incidents of terrorism can affect this trend as investors keep an eye on the security situation due to the risk factors, so our top priority should be provide peaceful atmophere to the investors so that they can focus on the trade activities and work fearlessly. Meanwhile, the power generation capacity in the country is higher than the demand, but despite this, there is an average of 6 to 8 hours of load-shedding per day, often supplemented by long periods two or three times a week.  On the other hand, there is no reduction in electricity bills due to the frequent increase in its prices.  At present, domestic consumers are forced to pay more than Rs. 55 per unit including all taxes, due to which the cosumers are in a fix. As per newspaper reports, in recent days, regarding electricity, the IMF has asked the government of Pakistan to reduce capacity charges to reduce industrial tariffs. It is claimed that by implementing this, the electricity tariff can be reduced by 18 rupees per unit, while not buying electricity from new power plants is burdening the consumers with 2 thousand billion rupees annually. According to the IMF, 5,000 MW power plants of the public sector should be run from local gas, which will generate electricity at a cost of Rs 10 to 14 per unit compared to LNG. If this proposal is beneficial, then it should be considered from all angles. should be done.

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 30 2024

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