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Pakistan signs $3bn staff level agreement with IMF

July 1, 2023

LAHORE: Pakistan has signed $3 billion staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As per details, the government of Pakistan and IMF $3 billion staff-level agreement was signed in a ceremony held in Lahore. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb were present at the ceremony International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that a “Stand-By …

Shell’s renewables boss to leave after CEO strategy shift

July 1, 2023

LONDON: Shell’s (SHEL.L) head of renewable generation Thomas Brostrom is leaving the company, a spokesperson said on Friday, weeks after CEO Wael Sawan scaled back its energy transition plans. Brostrom joined Shell from offshore wind giant Orsted in August 2021 to head offshore wind as the company planned to rapidly grow its wind and solar operations as part of a strategy to cut …

The European Union joined several Muslim nations on Saturday in condemning the latest incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden while the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) would be convening an emergency meeting on the matter next week. The censure comes after a man, who fled from Iraq to Sweden several years ago, tore up and burned the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque on Wednesday— the first day of Eidul Azha in the country. He has been charged by Swedish police with agitation against an ethnic or national group and a violation of a ban on fires that has been in place in Stockholm since mid-June. The act has drawn strong criticism from several countries, including Pakistan, Turkiye, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq and Iran. In its condemnation issued today, the EU said the act of burning the Holy Quran or any other holy book was “offensive, and disrespectful and a clear act of provocation.” “Manifestations of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Europe,” Nabila Massrali, the EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a statement. “The EU joins the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its strong rejection of the burning of a [copy of the Holy] Quran by an individual in Sweden. This act in no way reflects the opinions of the European Union.” She added, “It is even more deplorable that such an act was carried out on the important Muslim celebration of Eidul Azha.” OIC convenes emergency meeting Meanwhile, the OIC announced a day after the incident that it would be convening an emergency meeting of its executive committee next week to discuss the matter. The intergovernmental organisation of 57 countries said in a statement that the meeting had been called by Saudi Arabia in its capacity as chair of the Islamic Summit Conference and would take place at the OIC headquarters in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The emergency meeting would also go over the procedures for dealing with the fallout from the incident, it added. In an earlier statement, the OIC strongly condemned the incident, saying that such an act contradicted “international efforts to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and renunciation of extremism.” It also reiterated its condemnation of such “reprehensible acts that some extremists deliberately commit” and urged relevant governments around the world to “take effective measures to prevent its recurrence”. The OIC also emphasised the importance of adhering to the UN Charter in terms of promoting and encouraging respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all at the global level. Muslim nations protest Meanwhile, Pakistan, too, strongly condemned the “despicable act”, stressing that “such wilful incitement to discrimination, hated and violence cannot be justified under the pretext of freedom of expression and protest”. “The recurrence of such Islamophobic incidents during the last few months in the West calls into serious question the legal framework which permits such hate-driven actions. “We reiterate that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not provide a license to stoke hatred and sabotage inter-faith harmony,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday. It further stated that Pakistan’s concerns about the incident were being conveyed to Sweden and urged the international community and the national governments to undertake “credible and concrete measures to prevent the rising incidents of xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred”. Separately, a statement issued by the president’s office termed the incident “painful”. It said the act had “deeply hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims, [and] every state must take measures for the prevention of such Islamophobic acts”. On Friday, thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held a protest outside of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad and demanded an end to diplomatic ties. The protesters also briefly breached the embassy. Iraq’s foreign ministry also summoned Sweden’s ambassador on Thursday, urging the Swedish government to hand the man over so he could be tried in accordance with Iraqi law. Kuwait, too, summoned Sweden’s envoy, based in the United Arab Emirates, over the incident, after the UAE and also called in the country’s diplomatic representatives. “The deputy minister of foreign affairs handed the Swedish ambassador an official protest note containing the condemnation and denunciation of the State of Kuwait for the burning of a copy of the Holy Qoran by an extremist,” the foreign ministry said. The note also denounced Sweden for repeatedly permitting the act, the foreign ministry said. The United States also condemned the incident but said that issuing the permit for the protest outside the Stockholm mosque supported freedom of expression and was not an endorsement of the action. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the Turkish foreign minister, have condemned the incident. For his part, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson distanced himself from the act. “It is difficult to say what the consequences will be. I think there are many people who have reason to reflect,” Kristersson told a press conference. “This is a serious security question. There’s no need to insult other people,” the right-wing head of government said. “I think that just because some things are legal, they are not necessarily appropriate.” In an apparent reference to protesters breaching the Swedish embassy in Iraq, he said, “It is of course completely unacceptable to have people who unlawfully break into Swedish embassies in other countries.” The incident On Wednesday, Salwan Momika, 37, had asked police for permission to burn the Holy Quran “to express my opinion about the Quran”. Ahead of the protest, Momika told news agency TT he also wanted to highlight the importance of freedom of speech. “This is democracy. It is in danger if they tell us we can’t do this,” Momika said. Under a heavy police presence and with around a dozen opponents shouting at him in Arabic, Momika, dressed in beige trousers and a shirt, addressed the crowd of several dozen through a megaphone. At various times, he stomped on the Holy Quran and lit a few pages on fire while waving Swedish flags, journalists at the scene said. Earlier this year, Paludan, the leader of Denmark’s far-right party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), burned a copy of the Holy Quran in front of a mosque in Denmark on Friday, leading to great outrage among Muslims all over the world. He had also committed a similar act on Jan 21 when he set a copy of the Holy Quran on fire during an anti-Islam and anti-immigration protest in front of the Turkish embassy in Sweden.

July 1, 2023

KARACHI: The Karachi Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association has jacked up milk prices by Rs20 per litre, ARY News reported. As per details, the milk is already being sold at Rs210/kg in Karachi against the official rate of Rs180 and now the Karachi dairy farmers have further increased the price by Rs20 per litre. In his statement, Derry Farmers leader …

IMF says aiming to ‘quickly’ reach agreement with Pakistan on financial support

June 27, 2023

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday night that it aimed to “quickly” reach an agreement with Pakistan on financial support from the global lender as Islamabad had taken “decisive measures” to align its policies with the economic reforms sought by the institution. “Over the past few days, the Pakistani authorities have taken decisive measures to bring policies more …

PM Shehbaz hopes for IMF decision in a day or two

June 27, 2023

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a phone call with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday during which he expressed hope that the lender would announce a decision pertaining to the release of bailout funds within a day or two. Pakistan’s ninth review by the IMF under the 2019 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for the release of …

National Savings floats Islamic products

June 27, 2023

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday launched four National Savings products in the Sharia-compliant mode with effect from July 1 at rates of returns being offered in percentages comparable with conventional banking rates. The National Savings Organisation (NSO), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance, will formally launch the new products for the general public from July 1, said Finance Minister …

HCCI head opposes increase in income tax slabs by federal govt

June 27, 2023

HYDERABAD: Opposing increase in tax slabs, Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) president Adeel Siddiqui has said that the government should broaden its tax net instead. In such conditions, he said, traders and businessmen would have no option but to migrate from Pakistan. In his reaction over federal budget 2023-24, he said on Monday that finance bill 2023-24 was …

SBP springs surprise interest rate hike of 100bps

June 27, 2023

KARACHI: In a surprise move on Monday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points as the country looks forward to the completion of the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. The decision by the SBP’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) marks a change in its monetary policy stance within a couple of weeks. …

Acting President Sanjrani signs finance bill, approving new taxes worth Rs215bn

June 26, 2023

Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani — who has assumed the role as President Arif Alvi went on Haj — approved the amended Finance Bill 2023-24 on Monday. A day ago, the said bill for the new fiscal year sailed through the National Assembly after the government had made several changes, including fiscal tightening measures, dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a last-ditch …

The export of labourers and drivers

June 26, 2023

Pakistan has exported roughly 115,000 people as managers since 1971 and 32,000 as doctors. A paltry number compared to labourers and drivers — the two top categories of emigrants — whose numbers are 5m and 1.8m, respectively, over the last three decades. The GCC countries, Europe, the US and the UK, remain historically popular destinations. These can be the ones …

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