Business

ISLAMABAD: Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Monday told the parliament that the government would recover Rs9.90 to Rs14.24 per unit outstanding fuel costs from consumers of less than 300 units in an 8-month staggered schedule. Mr Dastgir said an additional surcharge of Rs3.82 per unit would also be imposed on those using above 300 units to fund power sector …

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday said it has called a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee on March 2 — two weeks earlier than scheduled — when it is expected to raise the main policy rate. “The forthcoming meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been preponed and now it will be held on Thursday, March 02, 2023,” the …

Pakistan has been suffering from chronic governance issues for the past several decades. Inheriting the post-colonial bureaucracy and with its manageable population of 30 million (West Pakistan, 1947), the country managed to get by in the early days. The population continued to grow to 70m in 1971 and to 130m in 1998, but it remained unfashionable and politically incorrect to …

Twitter Inc has laid off at least 200 employees, or about 10 per cent of its workforce, the New York Times reported late on Sunday, in its latest round of job cuts since Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging site last October. The layoffs on Saturday night impacted product managers, data scientists and engineers who worked on machine learning and site reliability, which …

From an all-time low of Rs276.58 a US dollar on February 3, the rupee gradually rose to 259.99 on February 24 — a recovery of 6 per cent — as crippling import restrictions remained in place. But it may come under renewed pressure in the April-June quarter. The external sector fundamentals are still too weak to lend lasting support to …

This year Ramazan will definitely be tougher than previous years for many low and middle-income group people, especially in terms of skyrocketing prices in the last year After over 12 hours of fasting, people try to enjoy lavish iftar by arranging many items. But many people with mediocre wages and salaries are likely to limit their purchases this year. All …

With petroleum prices increasing to Rs277 per litre, the fuel cost burden for a motorcycle owner will significantly increase. Pakistan needs to move fast towards electric motorcycle adoption to provide relief to these lower-middle and middle-class households. This requires enabling market-driven approaches with the government playing a facilitator role. Assuming an average of one-litre consumption per day, motorcycle users will …

ISLAMABAD: The Centre’s reluctance to release the committed development and non-development funds has put PTI-led Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government in a tough situation to deal with the brewing financial crisis. AJK Prime Minister Tanveer Ilyas on Saturday held a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar but failed to secure any assurance for the release of the budgetary funds. …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan needs to end this practice of sending its economy to the intensive care unit (ICU) for resurrection, says Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar. The minister made this statement at a news conference on Friday, at the end of a three-day visit to Washington during which he also represented Pakistan at the official trade and investment conference. “We need …

BENGALURU: Group of 20 (G20) nations have some disagreements over restructuring debt for distressed economies, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday, adding that banning private cryptocurrencies should be an option. India’s G20 presidency comes as its South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are seeking urgent IMF funds due to an economic slowdown caused …