Business

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said Pakistan’s economic outlook was uncertain, with high risks on the downside, as political uncertainty would remain a key risk to the sustainability of stabilisation and reform efforts. In its April 2024 ‘Asian Development Outlook’, the Manila-based lending agency said potential supply chain disruptions from the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East …

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said that Pakistan is in discussions with the Fund on a potential follow-up programme to the previous nine-month $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA), adding that important issues remained to be solved. Georgieva told an event at the Atlantic Council think tank, that Pakistan was successfully completing its existing programme with …

The United States has topped long-time leader China as Taiwan’s main export market for four consecutive months due to a surge in demand for microchip products and AI technology, Taipei’s finance ministry said on Friday. Self-ruled Taiwan is a microchip-manufacturing powerhouse, churning out the world’s most advanced silicon wafers necessary to power everything from e-vehicles and satellites to fighter jets …

OUAGADOUGOU: In the suburbs of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouag­adougou, lucrative strawberry farming is supplanting traditional crops like cabbage and lettuce and has become a top export to neighbouring countries. Prized as “red gold” in the Sahel, strawberry crops brought in some two billion CFA francs ($3.3 million) from 2019 to 2020, according to agricultural support programme PAPEA. In their January …

ISLAMABAD: The Karachi Gateway Terminal Multipurpose Limited (KGTML) has informed the Ministry of Ports and Shipping that it has successfully achieved the berthing of seven wheat bulk-carrier vessels across berths 11-17 on the East Wharf of Karachi Port. In a letter to the ministry, KGTML has stated that this achievement has been made possible through the introduction of efficient operational …

KARACHI: Private sector participation in the economy is now lower than what it was in FY23, which saw a negative growth. The State Bank’s latest data shows the private sector has lost confidence in the banking system as it could hardly borrow Rs35 billion in the first nine months of FY 24. The amount for the same period in FY …

KARACHI: Gold rates hit an all-time high of Rs245,100 per tola (24K) on Saturday, breaking the previous record of Rs 242,700 on Sept 2 last year. A member of the All Sindh Saraf and Jewellers Association (ASSJA) said the gold rate rose by Rs4,900 per tola on the back of a $44 per ounce jump in the international market to …

LAHORE: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday said that the incumbent government is actively taking measures to strengthen both the economy and industry, which are displaying positive signs. In a press conference at the PML-N’s Secretariat, he mentioned that Bloomberg had clearly stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a good experience in engaging with financial institutions and implementing economic …

TEXAS: Tesla has cancelled the long-promised inexpensive car that investors have been counting on to drive its growth into a mass-market automaker, according to three sources familiar with the matter and company messages seen by Reuters. The automaker will continue developing self-driving robotaxis on the same small-vehicle platform, the sources said. The decision represents an abandonment of a longstanding goal that …

KARACHI: Amid ongoing economic optimism, the stock market maintained a robust outlook, extending a surprise record-breaking spree in the last days of Ram­azan by scaling a new peak in the outgoing short week. Arif Habib Ltd (AHL) said the market continued its positive momentum throughout the four-day trading week, hitting an all-time high above the 68,000 level. The market sentiment …