Oman Arab Bank launches $250 million debut bond deal

Oman Arab Bank was set to raise $250 million on Thursday in its first foray in the international debt markets with an Additional Tier 1 perpetual bond issue, a document showed.

The bank launched the bonds at a yield of 7.625% after initial price guidance in the low 8% range for the AT1 bonds after it received more than $1.1 billion in orders, the document from one of the banks on the deal showed.

AT1 bonds are at the higher end of the risk spectrum of bank debt issues. They are perpetual in nature but issuers can redeem them after a specified period. Oman Arab Bank’s bonds will be non-callable (redeemable) for five years.

The deal is the latest in a series of AT1 bond issues from the oil-rich Gulf this year, as banks take advantage of low interest rates to bolster their Tier 1 capital after the region’s economies were hit by the double shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s historic slide in oil prices.

Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Kamco Invest, Standard Chartered Bank and Ubhar Capital are arranged the deal.

Oman Arab Bank issued AT1 bonds denominated in Omani rials in 2016 and 2018.

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Pandemic won’t be over until 70% are vaccinated: WHO

The WHO’s European director warned Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic won’t be over until at least 70 percent of people are vaccinated, while deploring that the vaccine rollout in Europe is still “too slow”.

“The pandemic will be over once we reach 70 percent minimum coverage in vaccination,” the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge told AFP in an interview.

Kluge also said that one of his main worries was the increased contagiousness of new variants of the novel coronavirus.

“We know for example that the B.1617 (Indian variant) is more transmissible than the B.117 (British variant), which already was more transmissible than the previous strain,” Kluge said.

According to the Belgian doctor, speed is “of essence” in pandemic.

“Even when WHO declared a pandemic, many countries were still waiting, we lost valuable time.”

While the regional director, who has held the position since February 2020, lauded calls for solidarity he stressed that a speedy rollout of vaccines was of the utmost importance.

“Our best friend is speed, the time is working against us, the vaccination roll-out still goes too slow,” Kluge said.

“We need to accelerate, we need to enlarge the number of vaccines.”

In the 53 countries and territories that make up the WHO’s European region — including several in Central Asia — 26 percent of the population has received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

In the European Union, 36.6 percent of the population has received at least one dose, according to a count by AFP.

The number of new daily Covid-19 cases around the world dropped by 13 percent to 554,200, according to an AFP toll.

The number of daily cases had fallen by half over a month at the beginning of the year to around 355,000, but started to spiral higher again on February 20. The number of cases then began to drop four weeks ago.

Europe accounted for the biggest slow down, with its number of cases this week falling by almost a quarter, or 24 percent.

The biggest drop was in Sweden by 51 percent to 1,900 new cases per day. Poland followed with 47 percent less, Germany 41 percent less, Ukraine 33 percent less and Switzerland 33 percent less.

The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, with different countries also having varying counting practices and levels of testing.

Despite the overall improvement in Europe, the UK was the country where the pandemic picked up most speed, with 74 percent more cases or 2,600 per day.

The Covid variant which emerged in India, which is feared to be particularly contagious, accounted for between half and three quarters of the new cases, according to the UK government.

Bahrain followed with 55 percent more cases, Bangladesh 50 percent more, Kuwait 46 percent more and Malaysia 43 percent more.

India also continued to mourn the most deaths, with 4,016 per day, followed by Brazil 1,797, the US (661), Colombia (494) and Argentina (491).

At the world level the number of deaths dropped by six percent this week to 11,563 per day.

However, the World Health Organization believes that as many as three times more people have died because of the pandemic than official figures suggest.

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Syria’s Bashar al-Assad re-elected for 4th term

Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected for a fourth term as president of Syria, official results showed on Thursday, despite Western accusations the polls were “neither free nor fair”.

The parliamentary speaker announced Thursday that Assad garnered 95.1 percent of the votes cast, trouncing two virtually unknown challengers.

Standing against him were former state minister Abdallah Salloum Abdallah and Mahmud Merhi, a member of the so-called “tolerated opposition”, long dismissed by exiled opposition leaders as an extension of the regime.

On the eve of the election, the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy said the poll was “neither free nor fair”, and Syria s fragmented opposition has called it a “farce”.

But few doubted that Assad, a 55-year-old ophthalmologist by training, would be re-elected.

In the last multi-candidate poll in 2014, Assad won 88 percent of the vote.

Huge election posters glorifying Assad had mushroomed across the two-thirds of the country under his control in the lead-up to Wednesday s poll.

Before the election results were announced, tens of thousands of Syrians gathered Thursday in various cities to celebrate, waving Syrian flags and carrying pictures of Assad, state media reported.

The festivities broke out after the election committee, quoted by local TV, said that “the ballot counting process has been completed in the majority of Syrian provinces”.

“Tens of thousands of people in Tartus province gathered at the city s seafront to celebrate” Assad s expected win, according to state news agency SANA.

Some danced and beat drums, footage broadcast by Syrian television showed.

Thousands of other Syrians rallied in the coastal city of Latakia and in Umayyad Square in the capital Damascus, which along with Tartus and Latakia are bastions of the regime.

Celebrations were also underway in Aleppo and in Sweida, in Syria s south, where a crowd gathered in front of city hall, state media said.

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Pakistan never paid attention to exports, laments PM Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday lamented that Pakistan never paid attention to exports, adding that it was very difficult to increase a country's wealth without them.

The premier was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rashkai Special Economic Zone being developed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

"If you aren't increasing your exports, then the country's wealth will never increase," he lamented, adding that selling wheat and other products will not make Pakistan wealthy alone.

He said Pakistan should learn from the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) set up by China. He labelled the Rashkai Special Economic Zone a "big opportunity", stressing on authorities to create ease of doing business for investors.

"The more hurdles you remove for investors, the more investors will arrive here [in Pakistan]," he said, adding that Pakistan had not been an "investor-friendly country".

He said investors were always attracted by prospects of making profits and that was not possible without governments taking steps to ensure ease of doing business.

PM Khan said his government was focusing its efforts on removing hurdles from investors' paths, adding that Pakistan has the potential to become an "attractive destination" for businessmen.

The prime minister regretted how Pakistani investors were setting up businesses in Bangladesh, Malaysia and other countries. He said this phenomena was due to the fact that in Pakistan, the government does not remove hurdles for investors.

"We send them [investors] to this office or that office," he said, lamenting how investors were not treated like VIPs. "The biggest VIP here should be the one who creates employment opportunities for others," he added, as the audience erupted into applause.

The prime minister recalled the difficult time for his government when the PTI was elected to power a little over two years ago. He said Pakistan was on the brink of default, adding that the starting 1.5-year period of his prime ministership was the most challenging part of his life.

The premier said when Pakistan was pulling itself out of the economic crisis, the coronavirus shuttered businesses around the world and had an adverse impact on various countries' economies.

"We should raise our hands and profusely thank Allah," he said, adding that Pakistan had not suffered the same fate as other countries had, where millions were unemployed and thousands had died.

He praised the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) adding that the think tank was closely following the coronavirus situation in the country.

He praised his government's decision not to impose a coronavirus lockdown, adding that the poor would have "died from hunger" and Pakistan "would have suffered a fate similar to India".

He hit out at the Opposition, adding that they were "shocked" to see the country's economy improving all of a sudden.

"Let me remind them [Opposition] that I was the captain who introduced neutral umpires in cricket," the prime minister said, adding that he would not give up easily in reforming the country.

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Senior US diplomat lauds Islamabad's 'sincere efforts for bringing peace and stability in the region'

Senior US diplomat in Pakistan Angela Aggeler on Friday lauded Islamabad for its "sincere efforts for bringing peace and stability in the region, especially the Afghan peace process".

US Chargé d’affaires Aggeler had called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi today.

"During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, overall regional security situation including recent developments in Afghan peace process and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed" said a statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).

This is the US diplomat's second meeting with Gen Bajwa in a month.

Earlier this month, she had called on Gen Bajwa to discuss several matters of mutual interest between Pakistan and the United States.

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4.8% GDP growth expected next fiscal year: Asad

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Friday Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP) growth was expected to hit 4.8% in the financial year 2021-2022.

Highlighting the achievements of the government during a press conference in Islamabad, Umar said in the nine months of the current fiscal year, IT exports showed growth of 46%.

Umar said the country had "witnessed a strong growth" during the fiscal year, and it is expected that the remittances would shoot up from $21.7 billion to $29.1 billion till the year end — an increase of 34% in a year.

The federal minister said if we combine the 3.94% GDP growth and the increase in remittances, it will take the gross national product (GNP) growth to 6.5% — the "highest" GNP growth in the last 16 years.

Umar said remittances played an important role in helping the country's economy grow, and it is important that we should give overseas Pakistanis the right to vote.

Shedding light on why the government is expecting a 4.8% GDP growth in FY22, he said that the government has invested in the agricultural sector which will greatly benefit the economy.

He said last year and this year cotton fields were badly affected, however, the government has now bought good quality seeds, stressed on the use of pesticides, and the demand for cotton has increased in the international market since.

"And so, after consultations with all the provinces, we have concluded that Pakistan can produce 10.5 million bales — 4 million from Sindh, 6 million from Punjab, and the rest from other provinces."

Umar said that the livestock industry had also been adversely impacted by coronavirus, but in the next fiscal year, it will move towards normalisation, and growth in this sector, too, will be visible.

The federal minister said electricity consumption was expected to grow by 6%, and after the government had announced a package for the industries, their power consumption had gone up 15% during the current fiscal — and in the next year, it is predicted to rise further.

Growth is also expected in gas, coal, construction, and among several other sectors. "Exports are predicted to go up. This year it stood at $25.2 billion, and in the next year, it will move up to $26.8 billion."

The federal minister said this year's $25.2 billion worth of exports were the country's highest figures in the last 10 years. "It is unfortunate that the backbone of the economy, exports faced several setbacks during the previous year."

Umar said next year's target for exports, $26.8 billion, would be the highest in the country's history.

The remittances might not grow like this year, but they are expected to move up from $29.1 billion to $31.3 billion — an expected increase of $2 billion.

Umar said the government was aiming at taking up the exports and expanding the IT sector, he said, adding: "The IT exports increased by 46%.

The Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) stood at Rs650 billion this year, and the government has increased it to Rs900 billion for the next fiscal year — a "huge" increase of Rs250 billion.

The federal minister said growth during the current fiscal year indicates that in the next fiscal year, the growth will be more than expected.

Giving an overview of the development spending for the next fiscal year, Umar said these envisage road infrastructure projects including Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway.

Giving an overview of the development spending for the next fiscal year, Umar said these envisage road infrastructure projects including the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway.

The packages announced for Karachi, and select districts of Sindh and Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan will be financed from the PSDP, the federal minister said.

Similarly, funds will be provided from the development plan for the construction of dams. Rs28 billion will be allocated for health, Rs37 billion for the Higher Education Commission, and Rs5 billion have also been set aside for the skills education programme.

The planning minister said the current account deficit for the next fiscal year has been estimated at 0.07%.

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Pakistan never paid attention to exports, laments PM Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday lamented that Pakistan never paid attention to exports, adding that it was very difficult to increase a country's wealth without them.

The premier was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rashkai Special Economic Zone being developed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

"If you aren't increasing your exports, then the country's wealth will never increase," he lamented, adding that selling wheat and other products will not make Pakistan wealthy alone.

He said Pakistan should learn from the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) set up by China. He labelled the Rashkai Special Economic Zone a "big opportunity", stressing on authorities to create ease of doing business for investors.

"The more hurdles you remove for investors, the more investors will arrive here [in Pakistan]," he said, adding that Pakistan had not been an "investor-friendly country".

He said investors were always attracted by prospects of making profits and that was not possible without governments taking steps to ensure ease of doing business.

PM Khan said his government was focusing its efforts on removing hurdles from investors' paths, adding that Pakistan has the potential to become an "attractive destination" for businessmen.

The prime minister regretted how Pakistani investors were setting up businesses in Bangladesh, Malaysia and other countries. He said this phenomena was due to the fact that in Pakistan, the government does not remove hurdles for investors.

"We send them [investors] to this office or that office," he said, lamenting how investors were not treated like VIPs. "The biggest VIP here should be the one who creates employment opportunities for others," he added, as the audience erupted into applause.

The prime minister recalled the difficult time for his government when the PTI was elected to power a little over two years ago. He said Pakistan was on the brink of default, adding that the starting 1.5-year period of his prime ministership was the most challenging part of his life.

The premier said when Pakistan was pulling itself out of the economic crisis, the coronavirus shuttered businesses around the world and had an adverse impact on various countries' economies.

"We should raise our hands and profusely thank Allah," he said, adding that Pakistan had not suffered the same fate as other countries had, where millions were unemployed and thousands had died.

He praised the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) adding that the think tank was closely following the coronavirus situation in the country.

He praised his government's decision not to impose a coronavirus lockdown, adding that the poor would have "died from hunger" and Pakistan "would have suffered a fate similar to India".

He hit out at the Opposition, adding that they were "shocked" to see the country's economy improving all of a sudden.

"Let me remind them [Opposition] that I was the captain who introduced neutral umpires in cricket," the prime minister said, adding that he would not give up easily in reforming the country.

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