Business

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik on Wednesday conceded some shortcomings in the government’s proposed fuel subsidy scheme in the first phase but said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should not have objections as the initiative “has no budgetary impact”. Speaking at a presser, the minister also denied that the finance ministry had raised concerns over the …

KARACHI: Amid unprecedented inflation and stagnating incomes, Pakistanis are all set to experience the toughest Ramazan ever as families will have to limit their purchases, especially food items, due to affordability issues. Households with static incomes or enduring a drastic cut in salaries for the last four years by employers will be in hot waters as meeting kitchen expenses in …

Amid unprecedented inflation and trickling incomes, residents of Karachi facing yet another challenge this Ramazan: gas supply cuts. Major complaints regarding gas load-shedding and shortages have been reported from across the metropolis, with citizens expecting a major cooking crisis during the holy month. Saba Naveed, a resident of Lyari, told Dawn.com there has been no gas at her house for nearly four …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received $242 million from the United States to support flood relief, recovery efforts, disaster resilience and food security and the US-Pakistani diaspora contributed about $42m to the total. On Tuesday, US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome highlighted the valuable contributions of the diaspora and the private sector at a US Agency for International Development (USAID) conference aimed …

KARACHI: The outstanding auto financing continued to decline for the eighth consecutive month in February dipping almost 9 per cent to Rs326 billion from Rs357bn in the same month last year, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Tuesday. Samiullah Tariq, head of Research Pak Kuwait Investment Company, said car financing would remain depressed in coming …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC) and Pakistan Housing Finance Company (PHFC) on Tuesday were prequalified to acquire House Building Finance Company Ltd (HBFCL). The meeting of the Privatisation Commission Board (PCB), chaired by Abid Hussain Bhayo, approved the recommendations of the prequalification committee to give a go-ahead to the two potential buyers to start due diligence of HBFCL. The …

KARACHI: The government should revise its tight gas policy to nudge energy companies towards exploring natural gas that’s obtained from reservoir rocks with low permeability using advanced technology. Addressing a seminar organised by CFA Society Pakistan on Tuesday, energy sector expert Muhammad Asim Subhani said each well that’s dug for tight gas must get a third-party certification in order to …

KARACHI: A record increase in returns on treasury bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) has failed to attract a single dollar. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased the interest rate by 300 basis points to 20 per cent and the discount rate to 21pc on March 2 to counter high inflation. Before announcing the interest rate hike, the government …

SRINAGAR: Dubai’s Emaar Group is going to build a $60million shopping and office complex in India-held Kashmir, a region claimed by both Pakistan and India. As per an announcement made by Emaar, the development programme will include a shopping mall and multi-purpose commercial tower in Srinagar. The announcement of what the region’s government said was its first foreign investment comes …

ISLAMABAD: US Ambas­sador Donald Blome has said that the US is Pakistan’s largest export market, and the US investment is seen coming to Pakistan more and more every year. He was speaking at the US-Pakistan Innovation Expo in Islamabad that showcased the success stories of US government-sponsored Pakistani startups. Ambassador Blome said that one of the top priorities of the …