Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada

Every country has its own foreign policy importance: Tarar

Pakistan 1 Min Read

KARACHI: Pakistan is committed to good relations with all friendly countries and every country has its own importance and position in the country’s foreign policy, Infor­mation Minister Atta Tarar said on Monday. In a statement, the minister said Pakistan was committed to have a good and close relations, based on mutual trust and cooperation, with all friendly countries. “Relations with one co­­untry cannot come at cost of relations with another country,” he remarked. Every country has its own importance and position in Pakistan’s foreign policy, Mr Tarar said, adding the country had given a due importance to every other state…

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Rumpus in Senate as PTI protests Imran’s detention

Pakistan 3 Mins Read

ISLAMABAD: The Senate witnessed a rumpus on Monday with the opposition PTI demanding an immediate release of party chairman Imran Khan, who completed one year behind bars on Aug 5. Members from both sides of aisle chanted slogans against each other. The uproar dominated the house as Leader of Opposition Shibli Faraz slammed Mr Khan’s “illegal” detention while speaking on a resolution to condemn the Aug 5 illegal actions of India in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The noisy situation compelled Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to adjourn the house without taking up most of agenda items. During Mr Shibli’s speech, the PTI…

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PTI marks Imran’s ‘year in prison’ with Swabi jalsa

Pakistan 4 Mins Read

SWABI: As its founder Imran Khan completed one year in jail, the PTI and its allies on Monday organised a large power show in Swabi to demand the former prime minister’s release. The jalsa was held at Shahmansoor Town and PTI leaders and workers from across the country participated in the event, despite the hot weather. The PTI workers were waving party flags and holding Imran Khan’s portraits, demanding the government release their leader immediately. In their speeches, PTI leaders said they had launched the campaign for the release of Imran Khan and they would organise rallies in different cities, including…

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Bill barring independents from joining parties flies through NA as PTI registers strong protest

Pakistan 5 Mins Read

The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill seeking to bar independent lawmakers from joining a party after a stipulated period with the opposition PTI voicing a strong protest against it. The bill, titled “Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024” has introduced amendments to the Elections Act 2017 and is being seen by political observers as a move to frustrate the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling, which had declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats and also set it to re-emerge as the single largest party in the NA. PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kayani had introduced the legislation in the NA a week ago, after which it had…

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Chinese firms stockpile high-end Samsung chips as they await new US curbs: report

Technology 4 Mins Read

Chinese tech giants including Huawei and Baidu 9888.HK as well as startups are stockpiling high bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors from Samsung Electronics in anticipation of US curbs on exports of the chips to China, three sources said. The companies have ramped up their buying of the artificial intelligence (AI) capable semiconductors since early this year, helping China account for about 30 per cent of Samsung’s 005930.KS HBM chip revenue in the first half of 2024, one of the sources said. The moves show how China is gearing up to keep its technology ambitions on track amid rising trade tensions with…

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When it comes to foreign investments, Google has an illegal monopoly on search, US judge findshas a rather limited pool of suitors. Early on, it was the US, followed by a brief affair with the Soviet Union. Eventually, the Gulf Cooperation Council members entered the scene and opened a new avenue for capital. But everything was overshadowed by China’s rise, particularly after the Belt and Road Initiative. ADVERTISEMENT Egypt typically doesn’t feature on that list, but in the last couple of years, it is emerging as a sporadic yet prominent name in the financial services space. EFG Hermes has been in the market for a long time and recently merged with Intermarket Securities. Paymob too became noticeable in point of sale with its aggressive acquiring before eventually cutting back. Last year in March, Egypt’s MNT-Halan also announced its entry with acquisition of Advans Pakistan. The fintech unicorn has raised more than $677 million through a mix of debt and equity, which accounts for around a quarter of the country’s total capital raised since 2018. In a little over five years, MNT-Halan has emerged as the largest non-bank lender to the unbanked in Egypt, boasting over a million monthly active customers with a 21.7 per cent market share. As of 2023, it had disbursed $4.4 billion in loans and possesses licenses from the Financial Regulatory Authority for consumer and nano finance, in addition to independent electronic wallets from the central bank. The fintech’s acquisition of Advans gives it access to an existing customer base, loan book, branch network and a license with a broad mandate With the home market covered, MNT-Halan now wants to replicate the same success overseas, and Pakistan was the first geography. Advans Pakistan gives them access to an existing customer base, loan book, staff, and a branch network, in addition to a license with a broad mandate. From that perspective, the acquisition appears quite promising. Throughout the last decade, microfinance banks have witnessed a significant surge in their deposit base, both in value and in the number of customers. Advans Pakistan is no exception, showing a consistent rise in total deposits every quarter. The bank has reported an average 14pc growth in the total value of deposits and 6.5pc in the number of depositors. This was primarily on the back of fixed and savings instruments, which collectively accounted for 98.4pc of the overall deposit mix in 2023, up from 96.7pc in the previous year. As of the end of 2023, gross advances slipped 7.24pc, driven by an economic slowdown and elevated benchmark rates, while active borrowers were down 9.3pc to 17,925. A large portion of its book is made up of unsecured borrowing, amounting to Rs3.1bn and making up 97.1pc of the total portfolio for 2023. This poses substantial credit risk and the potential for future non-performing loans (NPLs). While these numbers paint a promising picture for Advans, the full financial story is a mix of challenges and opportunities. In 2023, Advans’ total markup income surged to Rs1.7bn from Rs1.3bn in 2022, driven by a 5pc higher yield on earning assets due to elevated benchmark rates. However, the cost of funding rose by eight percentage points to 22.6pc, compressing the spread despite a slight increase in net interest earned. Although non-markup income increased, it couldn’t offset the rise in corresponding expenses, resulting in a net loss of Rs178m in Q1 2024 and pushing accumulated losses to Rs1.26bn. With just 20 branches and a limited workforce, the small size of Advans may actually be an asset to MNT-Halan, which can potentially start from scratch These figures reflect profitability struggles following the 2022 floods in Sindh, which impaired loan repayments and caused non-performing advances to rise by an average of 12pc quarter on quarter. While the infection ratio shows slight improvement, the outlook remains uncertain. Bad debts impacted the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), which fell to 10.93pc by Q1 2024 — below the required 15pc but still above the industry’s 6pc. In March 2023, Advans had appealed to the State Bank of Pakistan for a CAR compliance waiver, but the request was denied, forcing sponsors to inject equity: Rs188.5m on Aug 15, 2023, and Rs132m on Sept 12, 2023. According to its April 2024 credit rating report, new shareholders plan to invest Rs1-1.5bn to bolster capital buffers, indicating ongoing efforts to stabilise the bank’s financial health. But why is a unicorn taking over a struggling bank that doesn’t even meet the minimum capital requirements? License is obviously a big explanation, but there are 10 more micro finance banks, usually with far bigger scale of operations. That small size actually might be an asset for MNT-Halan. With just 20 branches and a limited workforce, Advans is the smallest player in the industry and thus offers a chance to start things from almost scratch, potentially reducing restructuring costs. But apparently, the new management wants to further expand the physical footprint. “In Pakistan, we’ll have a hybrid model. We will transfer a lot of our backend technology and app to provide more services and a better experience to our customers. Simultaneously, we will expand our branch network to be closer to our customers for better know-your-customer and to get wet signatures when we need to,” said a company spokesperson in response to Dawn’s questions. For a fintech player, this might seem counterintuitive at first but on closer inspection, does make sense. After all, branched accounts on average have 39 times the deposits compared to mobile wallets. But the bigger question is how would MNT-Halan approach a brick-and-mortar business, considering it doesn’t have much experience in this regard. The second problem relates to the inefficiencies at Advans: it has the third highest operating expenses to gross loan portfolio (36pc), almost twice the industry median. On top of it, there are serious questions looming around the health of the industry microfinance banks have been posting consistent losses and face capitalisation issues. Building a solid business, with attractive dollarised returns, is tricky in such an environment. But then, operating in Egypt has probably already prepared MNT-Halan for tough macros.

Technology 2 Mins Read

WASHINGTON: Alphabet’s Google broke the law with monopolistic behaviour over online search and related advertising, a US judge ruled on Monday, the first victory for anti-trust authorities who have filed numerous lawsuits challenging Big Tech’s market dominance. The decision is a significant win for the Justice Department, which had sued the search engine giant over its control of about 90 per cent of the online search market, and 95 per cent on smart phones. “The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” district judge Amit Mehta wrote. Potential…

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Jennifer Lopez hides Ben Affleck heartache with solo summer plans

Entertainment 1 Min Read

Jennifer Lopez is reportedly enjoying her own “good” summer of freedom as she prepares to spend the season apart from her husband, Ben Affleck. A source opened up to People Magazine about JLo’s current whereabouts as she prefers to put on a happy face even “when things are not perfect.” The insider explained that “considering everything that’s going on, Jennifer is having a good summer. She’s been off and able to focus on what’s next.” The Atlas star is on the lookout for a new home to “start fresh” after handling all the drama with estranged husband, who is “moving on separately” with…

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Meghan Markle sends stark warning to royal family after Balmoral snub

Entertainment 2 Mins Read

Meghan Markle seemingly sent a veiled threat to the royal family with her telling comments in latest interview. For the unversed, the Duchess of Sussex has made a headline-making appearance with her husband, Prince Harry, on CBS News, addressing the growing issue of cyberbullying and its impact on mental health. During the conversation with host Jane Pauley, the former Suits actress reflected on her statement about battling suicidal thoughts from Oprah’s bombshell show. While discussing Meghan’s comments, royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop told The Mirror, “She talked of the need to be ‘really open about it’ before Meghan admitted she ‘hadn’t really…

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Royal Family discovers lost artefact from usual place

Entertainment 1 Min Read

Royal Family is known to keep their precious and historic artefacts and heirlooms under high security. However, despite the strict security, the royals lost a highly rare and significant portrait of England’s monarch Henry VIII, which was believed to be lost back in 1781. Now, a historian discovered the missing portrait through a social media post which he saw online. Sotheby’s auction house consultant Adam Busiakiewicz took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his findings. “Strange discoveries can happen at any moment, it appears,” the historian penned in his blog, linked on X. He explained that the painting he spotted…

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