KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained upward rally on budgetary expectations and positive statements indicating growth in the economy. KSE-100 Index breached the psychological barrier of 48,500 points level during the first
session but failed to sustain it.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 130.28 points to 48,381.77 points at the end of the first trading session before the Friday mid-day break. Traders and analysts said the rally is an extension of the previous days’ positive mood mainly due to positive expectations from the budget scheduled to be announced today.
The statements related to improvement in the economy also added to the confidence of investors, they added. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will present Rs8.4 trillion budget for the financial year 2021-22 in the National Assembly today (Friday) at 4pm.
According to the finance ministry sources, the government has proposed Rs1,330 billion for defense and Rs3,105 billion for payment of interest. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth target has been set at 4.8 per cent in the budget 2021-22.
The government is expected to earmark Rs900bn for federal PSDP, an increase of 38pc from the previous budget. Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, while addressing a press conference yesterday evening said that despite the challenges the country faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy has witnessed a V-shaped recovery, adding that the current economic recovery has been achieved without compromising internal and external stability.
