KARACHI: The achie­vement of a long-awaited Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with the Interna­tio­nal Monetary Fund gave the Pakistan Stock Exch­ange (PSX) a boost, prop­elling the benchmark KSE 100 index past the 117,000 mark on Wednesday.

This development boosted investor confidence as the agreement is set to unlock substantial inflows, easing pressure on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and helping the country meet its external debt repayment obligations amicably.

Ali Najib, head of sales at Insight Securities, said Pakistan would receive the second tranche of $1bn (SDR760 million) under the current Extended Fund Facility. In addition, a new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) will provide $1.3bn (SDR1bn) over the next 28 months for climate resilience.

“The session kicked off on a triumphant note as investors considered this earlier-than-anticipation development a big milestone of the coalition government, as far as the country’s economic progress is concerned,” he remarked.

He said the SLA would enhance economic stability, support fiscal consolidation, and strengthen foreign exchange reserves, boosting investor confidence.

“Structural reforms in taxation, energy, and governance will drive sustainable growth while mitigating inflation and external risks,” he added.

Mr Najib said the IMF deal will boost investor confidence, attract foreign inflows, stabilise the rupee, and drive PSX gains, fostering market optimism and economic growth.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the PSX delivered a bullish performance due to the SLA, the government’s reduction of the March inflation forecast to 1pc, rising global crude oil prices, and the updated feasibility confirming $60bn in Reko Diq reserves to be shared with OGDCL and PPL as key drivers.

Topline Securities Ltd said the PSX performed strongly, with the benchmark index reaching a high of 1,588 points. It closed at 117,772 points, marking a gain of 1,139.15 points or 0.98 per cent day-on-day.

The rally was primarily driven by United Bank Ltd, Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum, Meezan Bank and Mari Energies, contributing 883 points to the index.

The market witnessed improved participation as the trading volume rose 33.05pc to 356.72m shares while the traded value surged 92.74pc to Rs37.49bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pak Elektron (26.879m shares), Cnergyico PK (17.47m shares), Bank of Punjab (16.148m shares) and Pakistan Petroleum (15.934m shares).

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2025