Business

ISLAMABAD: The government expects inflation to remain high in the coming months and it may hit an all-time high of 38 per cent in April, driven by hikes in food and energy prices. “The inflation is expected to remain in the range of 36-38 per cent for April,” the finance ministry said in its Monthly Economic Update and Outlook released …

ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose to 46.82 per cent year-on-year for the combined income group for the week ended on April 27, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. However, on a week-on-week basis, the SPI rose by 0.15pc with food items getting costlier, particularly wheat flour and …

ISLAMABAD: Out of sheer luck, Pakistan-owned Roosevelt Hotel has attracted a three-year rental offer for its 1,025 rooms from the New York City Government (NYCG) envisaging about $18 million in net cash flows instead of incurring over $160m carrying cost for the same period. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday approved the offer in principle and …

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to stop the supply of cheap natural gas to power producers who are selling power to the national grid at exorbitant rates, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik said on Friday. Speaking at a press conference, he said the Cabinet Committee on Energy had decided to end ‘exploitation’ by some power companies by “stopping …

KARACHI: United Bank Ltd (UBL) is considering a potential “merger” with Silkbank Ltd, one of the smallest commercial lenders battling undercapitalisation issues for years. One of the three biggest banks in terms of the asset base, UBL is going to seek permission from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to start Silkbank’s due diligence, which involves an in-depth examination of …

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank on Thursday forecast a substantial decline in global commodity prices during the current year but Pakistanis would have to brace for 21pc average annual inflation in the next fiscal year. In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook, the World Bank expected global commodity prices to decline this year at the fastest clip since the onset of the Covid-19 …

KARACHI: The outflow of profits and dividends on foreign investments shrank to a fifth of its last year’s value in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the central bank data showed on Thursday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that the outflow during July-March was $233 million compared to $1.27 billion a year ago — a …

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by a meagre $30 million during the week ended on April 20, while the country’s total reserves crossed the $10bn mark first time in the second half of the current fiscal year. The central bank on Thursday reported that its forex holdings imp­roved to $4.46bn during the week. …

Oil prices were heading for another monthly decline on Friday after disappointing US economic data and uncertainty over further interest rate hikes weighed on the demand outlook. Brent crude futures for June were up 42 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $78.79 a barrel by 09:46 GMT while the more actively traded July contract was down 1 cent at $78.21. …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday asserted that the country was “on its way” to overcoming the myriad of economic challenges it has been facing for the past few months because of the “tough decisions” taken by the government at the cost of its political capital. Addressing the passing out parade of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Academy Asghar Khan …