https://arab.news/4eu5r
CAIRO: Pakistan's imports significantly dropped in July, which is said to relieve some of the pressure on the rupee; China’s factory activity contracted unexpectedly in July as the COVID pandemic flared up again; and Britain's businesses are expected to have zero growth over the next three months.
Pakistan’s imports fall sharply in July, to help rupee stabilize — finance minister
Pakistan’s imports fell by more than a third in July, after a ban on non-essentials, the finance minister said on Sunday, adding that the improved trade situation will reduce pressure on the struggling rupee.
July imports fell to $5 billion, down 35 percent from June’s record monthly high of $7.7 billion, Miftah Ismail told a news conference in Islamabad.
The central bank and Pakistan statistics bureau is yet to post its July data.
“This is very welcoming,” Ismail said, adding that it was the result of his government’s ban on all non-essential imports. “It will remove pressure on rupee,” he said.
China’s factory activity contracts unexpectedly in July as COVID flares up
China’s factory activity contracted unexpectedly in July after bouncing back from COVID-19 lockdowns the month before, as fresh virus flare-ups and a darkening global outlook weighed on demand, a survey showed on Sunday.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.0 in July from 50.2 in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said, below the 50-point mark that separates contraction from growth and the lowest in three months.