Business

ISLAMABAD: As the stuck-up refunds and tax credit of export-oriented industries swelled to over Rs200 billion in the current fiscal year, the exporters on Tuesday warned of closing down their textile units as a severe liquidity crunch made it impossible to continue their operations. The stuck-up payments range from sales tax refunds to duty drawback of local taxes and levies, …

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as data showing a larger-than-expected United States crude drawdown last week outweighed concerns about lower demand from China. Brent crude futures rose $1.03, or 1.17 per cent, to $89.39 a barrel at 0941 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 86 cents, or 1.06pc, to $81.81 a barrel. US crude inventories fell …

LONDON: Nomura has warned that seven countries — Egypt, Romania, Sri Lanka, Turkiye, Czech Republic, Pakistan and Hungary —are now at a high risk of currency crises. The Japanese bank said that 22 of the 32 countries covered by its in-house “Damocles” warning system have seen their risk rise since its last update since May, with the largest increases in …

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The business community has appeared sceptical about the petition filed by the Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) seeking an increase of Rs667.44 per mmBtu in its prescribed prices for FY23. Businessmen said that industries should not be overburdened and gas price hikes should be applied to fertiliser, commercial and domestic …

DOHA: QatarEnergy announced a 27-year natural gas supply deal with China on Monday, calling it the “longest” ever seen as it strengthened ties with Asia while Europe scrambles for alternative sources. The state energy company will send four million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from its new North Field East project to China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), it …

Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk said on Monday the social media company is holding off the relaunch of its blue check subscription service, a delay from his initial tentative timeline to bring back the service on the platform. “Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation,” Musk said in a tweet. “Will probably use …

KARACHI: Foreign direct investment nosedived 52 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY23), reflecting the poor economic health and political instability in the country. The State Bank of Pakistan’s latest data issued on Monday showed that the FDI fell to $348.3 million in July-October FY23 from $726.5m during the same period of the last …

Oil rose on Tuesday after top exporter Saudi Arabia said Opec+ was sticking with output cuts and could take further steps to balance the market, outweighing global recession worries and concern about China’s rising Covid-19 case numbers. Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Monday was also quoted by state news agency SPA as denying a Wall Street Journal report that said …

LAHORE: The ongoing drive to switch commercial consumers over to RLNG will result in increase in price of Naan, Roti and curry (Salan) at a number of roadside restaurants (Dhabas), including 4,000 or so in Lahore alone — the eateries where a majority of workers take lunch during working hours on a daily basis. On the other hand, most of …

SAN JOSE: Elizabeth Holmes’s startup Theranos made her a multi-billionaire hailed as the next US tech visionary by age 30, but it all evaporated in a flash of lawsuits, ignominy and, finally, an 11-year prison sentence on Friday. The rise and fall of Holmes, who in January was convicted of defrauding investors of her biotech startup, is a heavily chronicled …