KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) soared on Friday as the stock market reacted positively that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $1.384 disbursement for Pakistan to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The benchmark KSE 100 index increased by 150.37 points and closed at 32,831.83 points, registering a healthy gain of 4.80 percent and ending the week on a positive note. The bourse shot up by 1087 points right after the market opened and maintain the upward trend for the remaining of the day before trading was suspended. The total volume of shares increased to 199.857 million valued at Rs7.455 billion.
Meanwhile, the lower bench KSE 30 index also increased by 661.13 points (4.81 percent) and closed at 14,407.56 points. The total volume of shares increased to 89.566 million. There share prices of top active stock increased notably KEL(6.57%), HASCOL (7.44%), BOP(12.12%), UNITY (9.30%), FCCL (7.49%), POWER (16.95%), WTL (12.33%), LOTCHEM (7.76%), EFER (7.49%) and FFL (10.68%).
READ MORE: IMF approves $1.386 billion disbursement for Pakistan
The State Bank of Pakistan also announced the new monetary policy and decided to reduce the key interest rate by 200 basis points to nine percent. This is the third time in four weeks that the central bank has decreased the policy rate to counter the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank said the action would cushion the impact of the coronavirus crisis on growth by easing borrowing costs and the debt service burden while also maintaining financial stability.
The stock market had remained flat for the week as investor confidence remained subdued. The IMF has projected a bleak outlook of the economy and forecast a negative 1.5 percent growth this year. The stock market rejoiced as the IMF approved $1.386 billion disbursements to Pakistan under the Rapid Financing Instrument to address the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The IMF said the funds will provide a backstop against the decline in international reserves and provide financing to the budget for targeted and temporary spending increases aimed at containing the pandemic and mitigating its economic impact.
