RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistan economy is expected to grow with the GDP growth rate of 5.1 percent and the benchmark KSE-100 can range between 53,000 to 55,000 points in the calendar year 2017, CEO of Arif Habib Limited said.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL) held a media briefing to discuss its investment strategy for 2017 and highlight its bullish view on Pakistan’s growth story and the equity market at the Arif Habib Centre on Friday.

Shahid Ali Habib, CEO, Arif Habib Limited, while briefing the reporters said that the local bourse will continue to amass strong returns in 2017. “It is supported by our view that the market will be re-rated for several reasons”, he said.

These include strong domestic demand and liquidity, potential foreign liquidity flow due to the up-gradation to the MSCI emerging markets status, continuing growth in earnings of listed companies, higher economic growth, especially as a result of better availability of energy emanating from the CPEC programme. “We expect the Pakistan equity market to potentially generate a yield in the range of 19 percent and 21 percent”, he said.

Shahbaz Ashraf, Head of Research, Arif Habib Limited, commenced the presentation with an overview of Pakistan’s economy highlighting that Pakistan is geared to post a strong GDP growth of 5.1 percent. “We believe that the Industrial Sector will take the lead in GDP Growth and our sectoral preferences for 2017 include E&Ps, Banks, Cements and Autos”, he added.

The briefing concluded with the handing out of the detailed research report covering the economy, the market and the major companies.