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Bad news for big economies as UK, Japan slide into recession


February 16, 2024

LONDON: Two major world economies — Japan and the UK — have fallen into a recession in the second half of 2023. While Japan’s ‘unexpected fall comes off the back of a contracting gross domestic product (GDP) — its economy also shrank by 3.3pc in the previous quarter, the UK’s decline comes ahead of this year’s expected election for PM …

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FBR fails to tax earnings of service providers


February 15, 2024

ISLAMABAD: Interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar has voiced concern with the slow pace in implementing the decision to connect professional services online with the tax machinery in eight major cities across the country. More than three years have gone and the FBR has still not completely implemented the decision in urban cities to raise income tax from professional service providers …

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KSE-100 index plunges 1,100 points on political ‘ambiguity’


February 15, 2024

Bears dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as shares witnessed a spike in selling pressure, with analysts attributing the losses to “ambiguity on the political landscape”. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index lost 936.97, or 1.51 per cent, to stand at 61,216.87 at 2:52pm. It finally closed at 61,020.05, down 1133.79 or 1.82pc from the previous close …

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Caretakers ‘oblige’ IMF with 45pc gas price hike


February 15, 2024

ISLAMABAD: Under pressure to meet the Feb 15 deadline of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the caretaker government on Wednesday allowed another up to 45 per cent increase in the natural gas tariff with effect from Feb 1 to meet revenue requirement of the gas utilities targeted for the current year. The decision was taken at a meeting of the …

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Manager behind fraudulent bank withdrawals fired, Senate told


February 15, 2024

ISLAMABAD: A foreign bank disclosed before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Wednesday that an employee was found involved in fraudulent actions, while the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said its forensic report had established the involvement of bank staff in the embezzlement of Rs410 million from the accounts of certain overseas Pakistanis. The additional director of FIA …

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Industrialists slam ‘adverse’ govt policies


February 15, 2024

KARACHI: Prominent figures from the industrial sector have raised concerns over the economic challenges brought forth by the caretaker government’s policies. In a press statement issued on Wednesday, these industry leaders said the policies of the caretaker government, whose main responsibility was to organise elections, had brought in severe economic crises, the slowdown in industrial production and an alarming declining …

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Infrastructure, development get Rs190bn


February 14, 2024

ISLAMABAD The utilisation of funds for development schemes of the former parliamentarians appeared to taper off on the eve of elections yet remained the second-largest expenditure portfolio in the Rs190 billion overall disbursements for a struggling Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the first seven months of 2023-24. The latest data on development expenditure released by the Planning Commission, special …

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Auto sales surge 81pc in January


February 14, 2024

KARACHI: Despite unprecedented interest rates, unbearable auto financing, higher prices and political and economic instability, the combined sales of cars, jeeps, vans and pickups surged 81 per cent to 10,536 in January from 5,816 in December 2023. However, the sales in the above segment remained 5pc lower compared to 11,124 units during January 2023. According to the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers …

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Equities regain 161 points in volatile trading


February 14, 2024

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday snapped the post-election losing streak in a volatile session a result the benchmark KSE 100-share index managed to close in the green. Topline Securities Ltd said the benchmark KSE-100 index swung in both directions as investors were still not clear who would form a new government as a result the the index plunged by …

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Economic Coordination Committee defers plan to recover Rs100bn from gas consumers


February 14, 2024

ISLAMABAD: While approving an already allocated Rs7.5 billion subsidy package for the upcoming Ramazan, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet could not decide how to recover Rs100bn in additional money from gas consumers in the remaining four and a half months of the current fiscal year as the commerce minister pressed for reducing cross-subsidisation burden on industry. The …

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