Business

RAWALPINDI: The global air transport body has warned of an ‘aviation crisis’ in Pakistan as airlines are struggling to recover $290 million due to a severe financial crisis, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has said it was trying to pay the airlines on time and has been in contact with relevant authorities over the issue. The Financial …

Maqsad, an edtech platform for academic content, has raised a seed round of $2.8 million at an undisclosed valuation, co-founder Rooshan Aziz told Dawn in an interview on Wednesday. The latest funding takes the startup’s all-time capital raised to $4.9m as it conducted a pre-seed round of $2.1m a year-and-a-half ago. A company statement said the round was led by Speedinvest and returning investor …

KARACHI: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) believe the burden of tax compliance is a bigger hurdle than the actual tax paid or the high tax rates associated with it, according to a yet-to-be-released study conducted by Karandaaz Pakistan, a non-profit that focuses on improving access to finance for the underserved population. Speaking at a webinar on the state of business …

ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division has moved its three-day retreat from historic Takht-e-Babri in Punjab to picturesque Whispering Pines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to discuss oil and gas sector issues and celebrate Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s austerity measures. More than 55 top executives of public sector entities from across the country and the Petroleum Division, including Minister of State Dr Musadik Malik, …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday increased the prices of all petroleum products, except the insignificant light diesel oil (LDO), by up to Rs13 per litre for the next fortnight. With the latest review, the most inflationary high-speed diesel (HSD) prices made a new record, reaching Rs293 per litre. The HSD price adjustment directly impacts consumer prices because of an increase …

THOUSANDS of demonstrators around the world took to the streets on Wednesday to demand better living conditions at a time inflation is making it even tougher for people to make two ends meet. The UK’s capital crippled when teachers, London Underground train drivers and civil servants joined striking doctors in a mass stoppage as Britain’s finance minister unveiled his tax …

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday asserted there would be “no compromise” on the country’s nuclear and missile programmes as he responded to questions raised by PPP Senator Raza Rabbani. Speaking during the Senate’s session today, Dar said: “Let me assure you that […] nobody is going to compromise anything on the nuclear or the missile program of Pakistan — …

LONDON: Top cryptocurrency bitcoin hit a nine-month high of $26,533 on Tuesday, in its fourth consecutive day of gains, as it appeared to benefit from chaos in global markets following last week’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Bitcoin rose to $26,533, up around 10 per cent on the day at its highest since June 2022. It gained 7.6pc on Sunday …

KARACHI: Honda Atlas Cars Ltd (HACL) on Tuesday raised the prices of various models to pass on the impact of exchange rate and seven per cent hike in general sales tax to 25pc on 1,400cc vehicles and above. As per announcement, Honda City MT 1.2L, CVT 1.2L, CVT 1.5L, Asp MT 1.5L and Asp CVT 1.5L now carry new rates …

ISLAMABAD: Amid looming international default threat on national fuel supplier — Pakistan State Oil (PSO) — owing to a record Rs775 billion receivables, the government on Tuesday approved extending sovereign guarantee for Rs50bn commercial borrowing and fixed Rs8,500 per 40kg minimum intervention price for raw cotton known as phutti to revive a faltering cash crop. The decisions were taken at …