Business

KARACHI: ZIL Ltd, a maker of personal care products, said on Friday its foreign acquirer has accepted 1.4 million shares — constituting 23.5 per cent of total shareholding — that were tendered by ordinary investors during the public offer period ending on May 10. On March 1, New Future Consu­mer International General Trading LLC signed a share purchase agreement with …

KARACHI: MSCI, which provides indices to help global investors allocate funds passively, has made changes as part of its semi-annual review, said Arif Habib Ltd on Friday. There is no change for Pakistan in the MSCI Frontier Markets (FM) Standard Index. Pakistan’s weight in that benchmark is estimated at 0.6 per cent, with Engro Corporation Ltd and Oil and Gas …

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday announced that the federal budget for fiscal 2024 would be presented on June 9 and insis­ted that Pakistan would not default on any foreign liability, with or without an IMF programme. Speaking to journalists after a seminar organised by the National Security Division, the minister said there should be no concern over the …

The rupee made a sharp recovery of 4.4 per cent against the US dollar in the interbank market on Friday, staging a remarkable recovery having lost almost 3pc of its value yesterday. The PKR was trading at Rs285.75 per dollar around noon, gaining Rs13.18 from yesterday’s close of Rs298.93. Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP) Chairperson Malik Bostan said the local …

KARACHI: Point-of-sale (POS) transactions routed through main digital payment systems fell by around 50 per cent the day after former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest ignited countrywide protests and prompted authorities to shut down mobile internet services, data showed on Thursday. The reason for the slump was primarily the mobile broadband suspension, in addition to lower footfall at the limited …

KARACHI: Extending overnight losses for almost the same reasons, the rupee hit an all-time low of Rs298.93 against the US dollar in the interbank market on Thursday. In the open market, the local currency lost Rs2 to settle at 299. Meanwhile, the foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined by $74m to $4.38bn for the week …

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday notified K-Electric to charge Rs3.93 per unit additional cost to its consumers in the current month’s bill to mop up another Rs5.8bn funds as ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) sought to add another Rs44.5 billion burden to their consumers in next three months. In a notification issued on Thursday, the regulator …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified draft rules to facilitate the import of duty-free equipment for technological zones for 10 years. The new rules were notified through a notification SRO536, which will become final in case no objection is received from any quarter in 15 days. The rules cover the registration of zones, equipment import and retention …

KARACHI: The US dollar appreciated to an all-time high against the rupee, rising by 1.8 per cent in the interbank market on Wednesday, apparently after the political situation deteriorated further. The State Bank reported the dollar price at Rs290.22 in the interbank market against the price of Rs284.87 a day before, an increase of Rs5.37, or 1.8pc. This was the …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday allowed the Pakistan International Airlines-Investment Ltd (PIA-IL) to sign an agreement with the New York City Government (NYCG) for the utilisation of Roosevelt Hotel on rental for three years after reaching a settlement deal with the hotel union. The decision was taken at a special meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet …