Business

KARACHI: The US dollar lost Rs15.65 against the rupee after hitting an all-time high of Rs276.58 on Feb 3. Again, the gap between the open and interbank markets is widening alarmingly. On Thursday, the dollar closed at Rs260.93 in the interbank after losing 97 paise. With the uncapping of artificial rates, the local currency plunged to Rs276 against the greenback …

KARACHI: An interest rate hike of around 200 basis points by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is highly likely, financial market experts say, after the recent treasury bill auction rates saw a similar increase. While the unexpected rate jump in the government auction to raise domestic debt surprised the trade and industry, the investors in the treasury bills found …

A “robust trade relationship” between the United States and Pakistan is important to bolster the latter’s economic stability, especially after last year’s devastating floods, and expose American businesses to new markets, the US State Department has said. State Department spokesperson Ned Price made the remarks in response to a query at a weekly press briefing on Thursday. “We believe that a robust …

Facebook and Instagram began a week-long rollout of their first paid verification service on Friday, testing users’ willingness to pay for social media features that until now have been free. Facing a drop in advertising revenues, parent company Meta is piloting a subscription in Australia and New Zealand before it appears in larger markets. The service will cost US$11.99 on …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has begun an exercise to strengthen its statistics department by making it “go beyond traditional economic data”. Speaking at conference organised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) on Wednesday, SBP Deputy Governor Sima Kamil said the central bank has set up a new division by the name of Avant-Garde Digit, which …

KARACHI: Amid looming shortages in Ramazan due to a host of reasons mainly restrictions on palm oil imports, the PMLN-led coalition government has dire­cted provincial governments to provide monthly ghee and cooking oil consumption data and the number of mills in operations. The provincial administrations have also been instructed to share data on available stocks of edible oil and prices …

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday signed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, generally known as the mini-budget, as the government rushed to fulfil the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions to unlock an economic bailout that the country needs to avoid the risk of default. The Prime Minister Secretariat sent the bill to the President Secretariat on Wednesday evening for assent, …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) slid on Thursday on fears that the central bank may raise the policy rate, which is already at a 25-year-high of 17 per cent, in an off-cycle review. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 337.15 points, or 0.82pc, to reach 40,830.45 points at 3:23pm. Intermarket Securities’ Head of Equity Raza Jafri said a sharp …

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is set to raise interest rates as early as this week in an off-cycle review, investors said, as the country faces pressure to mend its finances amid a $1 billion loan it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund. Market participants in a recent treasury bill auction are expecting at least a 200 basis …

NEW YORK: Brent crude oil slipped more than one per cent in a volatile session on Tuesday as persistent concerns about global economic growth outweighed supply curbs and prompted investors to take profits on the previous day’s gains. The focus in the wider financial market is firmly on the release on Wednesday of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s …