KARACHI: Pakistan stocks plunged to 30-month low as country’s extremely riotous political situation freaked economy-wary investors into stampeding towards exits, resulting in whopping losses, Stock traders said. KSE-100 shares index lost 1,378.54 points or about 3.47 percent to close at 38,342.21 points.

Analysts said dissolution of Punjab Assembly and prevailing crisis in country amid continuous demand from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for snap polls panicked market into this vicious selloff.

Delay in revival of International Monetary Fund’s loan programme and ongoing political uncertainty in country caused bloodbath in stock market.

Meanwhile, depleting forex reserves with State Bank of Pakistan below $ 5 billion mark enough for less than three weeks of import is making investors jittery. Tahir Abbas Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited said investment momentum was extremely negative. He pinned Tuesday’s tailspin partly on IMF loan impasse and partly on political crisis.

Moreover, concerns regarding monetary policy rate hikes, depreciation of rupee against dollar and delay in ninth review of International Monetary Fund programme further dented investors’ sentiment.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 18 2023

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.