Business

KARACHI: The crackdown against illegal currency dealers has kept the exchange rate under control so far as the dollar lost in both the open and interbank markets. The State Bank reported the closing price of dollar as Rs294.90, noting a depreciation of Rs1.05. The dollar was priced as Rs295.95 a day earlier.     Since the peak of Rs307, the …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has called upon the commerce ministry to devise a comprehensive package aimed at streamlining crucial factors such as electricity, gas, and labour to bolster the overall competitiveness of local industries. In a high-level meeting chaired by Caretaker Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz, the PBC put forth its demands and a comprehensive discussion took place regarding …

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has carried out the re-composition exercise for the KSE-100 index based on a review of data from March to August, according to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The changes in the constituents of the KSE-100 index, which consist of the 100 largest companies listed on the PSX based on the free-float methodology, will take …

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Privatisation Commission on Tuesday discussed privatisation of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and agreed a clear timeline for the purpose. The meeting, presided over by Minister for Privatisation Fawad Hasan Fawad, was held to meet the target set by the caretaker prime minister and the federal cabinet for PIA’s privatisation. The privatisation minister held detailed …

LAHORE: Farmers have asked the government to tax the rich instead of the poor to remove unjust burden on the people, particularly the farming community which is running the economy by toiling day and night at their fields. “The government should tax the rich and elite class of the country by going for direct taxes instead of over­­burdening the poor …

KARACHI: Amid unprecedented high prices, consumers may brave another challenge of facing a shortage of petroleum products following the suspension of distribution of oil products by the oil tankers’ association from Monday morning. However, Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) chairman Abdul Sami Khan said some pumps in Karachi had started getting dry while upcountry pumps had so far remained unaffected. …

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Chairman Waseem Mukhtar on Monday said that promoting energy affordability for the export sector through regionally competitive tariffs was a critical factor in boosting economic growth in current challenging times. Addressing the Pakistan Energy Conference jointly organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Eventive Solutions, he said other critical factors were …

KARACHI: Stocks closed higher on Monday led by oil companies amid surging global crude prices as well as the rupee’s recovery against the dollar. Arif Habib Corporation analyst Ahsan Mehanti said the decision by the State Bank of Pakistan to maintain the status quo over the policy rate, upbeat data on cement sales, which rose 37 per cent in August, …

ISLAMABAD: Amid the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) persistence for retrospective gas price adjustments to curb runaway circular debt, the caretaker government has to take a series of immediate steps. These steps include increasing cash payments to urban recipients of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), allocating funds for winter gas in Balochistan, and making cash and non-cash book adjustments to settle inter-corporate …

KARACHI / TAXILA: Growing up in a Pakistani household, lessons in “saving something for a rainy day” are inculcated into children from a young age. These savings could be in the form of cash or assets, like gold. For every family, the definition of a “rainy day” varies, but in our parlance, they broadly refer to any event that throws …