KARACHI: The financial market expects a 100 to 150 basis point increase in the interest rate, which could be announced by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the next scheduled monetary policy. The central bank announced on Tuesday that its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting will be held on Thursday and Acting Governor SBP Dr Murtaza Syed will unveil …

ISLAMABAD: With no response from Russia regarding wheat supply to Pakistan on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, Islamabad decided on Tuesday to accept 500,000 tonnes of open international tenders for import of major staple commodity at a much lower rate than earlier. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet led by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail also directed the authorities concerned …

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan saw a deeper drop since the Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021, the government on Tuesday took a major decision to allow trade of all products to Kabul in the rupee via land routes owing to the non-availability of tradable currency through banking channels. The change in trade regime from dollar to …

Twitter is challenging the Indian government’s orders to block content on its social media site in court, local media reported on Wednesday, citing legal documents. The suit is the latest showdown between Twitter and Indian authorities, which have been accused of muzzling criticism both on and offline. In the case filed with a court in Bangalore, the social media giant alleged that …

India’s financial crime-fighting agency on Tuesday raided the offices of smartphone maker Vivo, owned by China’s BBK Electronics, and its related entities, a senior government official and an industry executive told Reuters. The searches by the Enforcement Directorate are part of an investigation into suspected money laundering, local media reported. “Vivo is cooperating with the authorities to provide them with all …

Police arrested a suspect on Monday after a mass shooting left six dead at a US Independence Day parade in a wealthy Chicago suburb, casting a dark shadow over the country’s most patriotic holiday. Robert Crimo, 22, was identified as a “person of interest” and became the target of a massive manhunt across the town of Highland Park in Illinois, where a …

LONDON: Britain’s finance and health ministers resigned on Tuesday in what could spell the end for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s premiership after he had tried to apologise for the latest scandal to blight his administration. Both finance minister Rishi Sunak and health minister Sajid Javid sent resignation letters within minutes of each other to the prime minister, in which both …

China’s ambassador announced trade and investment plans for Afghanistan on Tuesday, a public endorsement for doing business in the Taliban-controlled country after an earthquake drew attention to the humanitarian consequences of Western sanctions. At a rare press conference alongside the Taliban administration’s acting minister for disaster management, Ambassador Wang Yu announced $8 million in aid for relief from the June 22 earthquake …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is bankrupt and the acute pain of its unprecedented economic crisis will linger until at least the end of next year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament on Tuesday. The island nation’s 22 million people have endured months of galloping inflation and lengthy power cuts after the government ran out of foreign currency to import vital goods. …

BERLIN: Police across several European countries on Tuesday launched a major coordinated crackdown on criminal networks suspected of using small boats to smuggle people into the UK, British and German authorities said. Officers staged dawn raids in Belgium, Britain, France, the Netherlands and Germany, said police in the northwestern German city of Osnabrueck, considered a hub for the traffickers. Britain’s …