KARACHI: On Monday, the KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) lost 787.35 points during the intraday trading session. The market opened positively after the announcement of a staff-level agreement between the International Monetary Fund and Pakistan.
The session began with 46,601.90 points, but around 1PM lost 787.35 points.
Head of equities-intermarket securities Raza Jafri said that the rise in the interest rate on Friday has caused a downside trend in the market.
“Despite a staff-level agreement with the IMF, the market is giving precedence to Friday’s sharp 150bps interest rate increase. This is because further interest rate increases are expected in the next few MPC meetings. Furthermore, it would take some time — perhaps a few weeks — before the approval of the IMF’s Executive Board, which might wait for the remaining prior actions such as the removal of tax exemptions and SBP Act before giving formal approval for the program resumption.”
IMF has signed a staff-level agreement with Pakistan under which Pakistan has to comply with the latest policies set by IMF in order for the sixth review of Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to be completed.