Business

ISLAMABAD: Local investors have stepped back from their plans to acquire a stake in Shell Pakistan Ltd, following the announcement of a finalised deal between the company’s parent entity and a Saudi Arabian group. Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL) and Air Link Communication Ltd, two of the interested local investors, officially communicated their withdrawal to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday stressed the need for working together to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and France in areas of trade and investment and invited French companies to invest in Pakistan. The prime minister made these remarks during a meeting with Ambassador of France in Islamabad Nicolas Galey, who paid a courtesy call on him. PM Shehbaz …

ISLAMABAD: Despite massive repetitive price shocks to consumers and countrywide drive against theft and billing defaults, the World Bank has found power and gas circular debts increasing by an average of Rs135 billion to Rs5.5 trillion (about 5.1pc of GDP) by end-January this year and wants the government to do more to recover true cost of supply. “The government has …

Bulls continued their stampede on Thursday at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as shares gained 660 points to close at another record high. On Wednesday, the KSE-100 index had soared 800 points to a new all-time high closing above 67,5000 amid revival of hopes for a cut in the interest rate following a sharp deceleration in inflation and significant progress …

ISLAMABAD: Services’ exports rebounded year-on-year in February after contracting in the preceding four months, according to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. The services exports reached $627.05 million in February, marking a 6.11 per cent increase from the $590.96m in the corresponding month last year. In rupee terms, the export of services grew 11.08pc in …

ISLAMABAD: The Com­p­­etition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued show-cause notices to the Fertiliser Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC) and six leading fertililiser companies for allegedly fixing urea prices, a prima facie violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010. Urea prices play a crucial role in determining the prices of essential food commodities. Any arbitrary increase in …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Institute of Devel­opment Economics (Pide), a state-owned think tank, has asked the government to shift gear from bureaucratic permissions to rule-based market liberalisation, exploit over Rs300 billion annual revenue potential from real estate through transparency, generate gains in agriculture sector worth Rs1.7 trillion and open up public land in Islamabad worth Rs2.2tr for private investment — all …

The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Wednesday said that the country is facing a 30 per cent water shortage at the start of the sowing season for cash crops such as rice and cotton. Irsa said the gap is based on lower than normal winter snowfall in the northern areas, affecting catchment areas of the Indus and Jhelum Rivers …

Bulls dominated the trade floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday as shares gained over 800 points, reaching an all-time high. The KSE-100 index gained 704 points, or 1.05 per cent, to stand at 67,590.26 at 12:01pm from the previous close 66,886.26 points. It closed at 67,756.03, up by 869.77 or 1.3pc, from the previous close. On March …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s merchandise export growth in March slowed to 7.99 per cent after posting double-digit increases in the preceding three months. In absolute terms, the export reached $2.55 billion in March, up 7.99pc from $2.36bn over the corresponding month of last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The trade deficit widened year-on-year by …