Business

KRARCHI: The Ramazan-driven price spiral could take up the food basket inflation to its peak in March which may not allow the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to take any significant cut in the interest rate, said market sources. The induction of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurang­zeb, who was the CEO of Habib Bank Ltd and a regular participant in policy …

ISLAMABAD: Appreciating the increase in the export volume of Information Technology (IT) services to more than $3 billion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday sought a comprehensive roadmap to further boost IT exports. He issued these instructions while chairing a meeting to review the performance of the IT and telecom sectors. Meanwhile, newly appointed federal cabinet member, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, was given …

KARACHI: A video purportedly made by a bank staffer showing incomplete half-printed banknotes sparked concerns among social media users and the people, prompting the State Bank of Pakistan to announce an investigation on Tuesday. The video surfaced on social media depicts a man calling himself the manager of the Model Colony branch of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). He can be …

Bears continued to dominate the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday and dragged its benchmark index down sharply by over 700 points in intraday trade. At around 1:38, the KSE-100 index dropped by 953.60 points, or 1.45 per cent, to stand at 64,801.70 from the previous close of 65,755.30. It had reached a low of 64,64.66. Yesterday, the index had closed in …

ISLAMABAD: Newly appointed Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday laid out his singular agenda: to focus on the implementation of much-needed reforms and secure a new deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to pull the economy out of crisis. “No debates, no waste of time — just a steadfast commitment to implementation,” the former Habib Bank chief told Dawn soon after …

KARACHI. The selling of dollars to banks fell by $70 million in February, said currency dealers on Monday. The open market had been selling over $300m for most of the months in the current fiscal year. “In January we sold about $320m to the banks but it fell to around $250m in February,” said Malik Bostan, Chairman Exchange Companies Association …

KARACHI: Trading in the newly listed Mahaana Islamic Index Exchange Traded Fund (MIIETF), managed by Mahaana Wealth Ltd (MWL), began on Monday. The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) said the ETF was aimed to track the performance of the Mahaana Islamic Index (MII30) whereby the index would be periodically rebalanced and reconstituted to provide long-term appreciation and dividend yield to investors. …

KARACHI: The benchmark KSE 100-share index continued to flirt with the 66,000-point level on an intraday basis but a close above that mark was still elusive despite a bullish beginning with a spike in trading volume on Monday. Topline Securities Ltd said the index remained in the green for most part of the session hitting an intraday high of 326 …

Despite the nation’s many hopes and expectation, the country’s political leadership has yet not been able to agree on a charter of economy or a common minimum agenda for the newly elected government to pursue for the next five years. However, ongoing developments indicate that the country’s multiple crises are likely to be addressed on an issue-to-issue basis either through …

The stars appear to be finally aligning for the long-awaited Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. Driven by necessity and bolstered by the current global environment, Pakistan has set its sights on commencing and swiftly completing a small 80-kilometre stretch of the pipeline. Originally envisioned to span 785km in total, running from the Iran border through Balochistan to Sindh and extending to …