Pakistan stock market recovers on hopes of IMF programme revival
After an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation arrived in Pakistan to discuss resuming the country's stalled loan programme, shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recovered on Tuesday.
The benchmark KSE-100 index jumped 801.79 points, or 2.01 percent, to close at 40,673.06 points. It reached an intraday high of 845.99 points, or 2.12 percent, around 3:04pm, according to Dawn.
Share prices went up as people hoped that the stalled IMF plan, which Pakistan needs to keep from going bankrupt, would be reactivated after the delegation arrived, said Ahsan Mehanti, the director of Arif Habib Corporation, in an interview with Dawn.
The prospects of reviving the programme brightened after the government removed an unofficial cap on the USD-PKR exchange rate and allowed the local currency to devalue along with raising petroleum prices, he added.
The stock index tumbled yesterday after the blast in Peshawar's Police Lines area, in which more than 90 people were killed, and the UAE president's visit was postponed, said Dalal Securities CEO Siddique Dalal.
The stock market returned to the green zone today on reports that Abu Dhabi may invest in state-owned enterprises and the IMF team's arrival, he added.
Pakistan on Tuesday began talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at releasing funds from a $7 billion bailout that have been stalled since November.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met IMF Pakistan Mission Chief Nathan Porter, the finance ministry said, and briefed him on the "fiscal and economic reforms and measures being taken by the government in different sectors".