Key View

• Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo has opened a new smartphone manufacturing facility in Pakistan.
• Rivals Xiaomi and Realme are also looking to open local manufacturing sites within the next few months.
• Pakistan needs to become less dependent on imports and falling total ownership costs (TCOs) for premium devices will be key to

Key View

• Pakistan’s FY2021/22 budget provides a boost to funding for the country’s universal health scheme.
• The country is making several improvements in its healthcare delivery system and has established several reforms.
• Opportunities for multinational drugmakers will continue to be marred by underlying issues within the healthcare system.

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions highlight rising political risks in Pakistan, as the formation of a breakaway faction, led by former secretary Jahangir Khan Tareen of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), suggests likely weaker mandate of the ruling coalition.
• We have revised our Short-Term Political Risk Index score for Pakistan to 42.7

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions expect the State Bank of Pakistan to keep its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 7.0%, through FY2021/22 (July-June).
• Elevated uncertainty posed by the pandemic will mean that the central bank is likely to continue favouring an accommodative stance to support Pakistan’s economy.
• While we forecast inflation to

Key View

• Pakistan's exports remain reliant on surgical devices and the recent positive trade balance will remain in place only as demand for surgical devices is sustained as the Covid-19 backlog is dealt with globally.
• Pakistan is an attractive market for investment, with the sixth largest population and a public sector garnering more

Key View

• We have made downward revisions to our coal power growth forecasts for Pakistan this quarter, given the slow progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor coal-powered projects of late, and increasing downside risks to the sector from the moratorium on coal.
• That said, we stress that even with this revision, coal will still continue

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions continue to expect the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to keep its benchmark policy rate at 7.00% through FY2020/21 (July-June).
• Ongoing economic challenges posed by the pandemic will mean that the central bank is likely to maintain an accommodative stance over the near term to support an economic recovery.
• Howeve