Shares at PSX reverse gains, plunge 2,000 points on IMF concerns

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reversed major gains on Monday as the KSE-100 index shed more than 2,000 points on International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerns over electricity tariffs. The benchmark KSE-100 index shed 2,002.55 points, or 1.69 per cent, to stand 116,439.62 from the last close of 118,442.17 points. Topline Securities, a brokerage firm in Karachi, noted that the market faced downward pressure due to IMF “concerns over the lack of adjustments to electricity tariffs and no reduction in property taxes, as reported in the news”. Earlier, it was widely reported in the media through official leaks that the prime minister would announce a Rs8 per unit reduction in electricity rates in his speech to the nation on March 23. The prime minister, however, did not announce any such relief package in his Pakistan Day speech.