Pakistan has emerged with the second-lowest tariff rate of any South Asian country. Afghanistan got hit with a 15pc levy, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam with 20pc, and India with 25pc.
CNN noted: “There is also satisfaction locally that Pakistan’s tariff rate is much lower than neighbour and arch-rival India’s. Fears in Islamabad that India was trying to isolate Pakistan financially have been somewhat tempered by the 25pc tariff rate that the Trump administration hit New Delhi with.”
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its bullish
momentum and crossed the 141,000-point barrier, despite dipping by as many as 433 points in the morning.
The benchmark
KSE-100 index rose by 1,644.56 points (1.18pc) to reach a intraday high of 141,160.93 points at 4:11pm, from the previous close of 139,390.42 points. It finally closed at 141,034.98 points.
Having witnessed heavy
selling pressure on Tuesday due to corporate earnings and
political noise, the PSX had
bounced back above the 139,000-mark yesterday, driven by the trade agreement with the US.
This screengrab shows PSX activity on August 1. — PSX data portal
Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad
highlighted on X: “Pakistan is possibly the only country which the US has offered its investments as well, besides a competitive trade deal.”
He noted the “deal signals a strategic deepening of economic ties and shared growth”.
Speaking to
Geo News, Schehzad expanded upon possible US investment in Pakistan’s energy sector, which he termed the “biggest area” in the economy.
“We need global partnerships in energy. We import 80-90pc of all our energy needs,” the finance minister’s adviser observed.
“If such an economy — a giant which has expertise in oil and gas — if they’re coming and talking about massively building oil and gas reserves, so we can export to the entire region, not just fulfil our own needs, this is a big development,” the adviser emphasised.
“If Pakistan make a deal with the US to set up big plants for exploration or machinery, we’ll get benefits in tariffs through that as well,” he added.
“The way Pakistan has been treated compared to different countries in this region, very encouraging and important,” Schehzad said, referring to the higher 25pc levy imposed on India.
While noting that the government’s role was to negotiate and secure a good deal, he called on the private sector to execute it through business-to-business, export contracts, and export engagement.
“The import bill can be reduced, the dollar can be impacted, overall employment generation, and GDP can be improved,” Schehzad highlighted.
He pointed out that the
Pakistani companies, such as Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), were stakeholders in Balochistan’s
Reko Diq mining project.
