Business

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 …

KARACHI: The crisis in the automobile sector continues to metastasise, with local tyre manufacturing Ghandhara Tyre and Rubber Company Limited (GTR) announcing its second plant shutdown for 2023 and Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMCL) stating it has been hit adversely due to its inability to settle foreign currency liabilities. In a stock filing on Monday, GTR said it has …

ISLAMABAD: The Fede­ral Board of Revenue (FBR) has made changes in the procedure for automati­cally processing refunds for five sectors in what it says is a step taken to facilitate exporters. The FBR’s Sales Tax General Order No. 09 states that the changes will be applicable from of March 2023 and will facilitate the cash-flow requirements of exporters, especially those …

KARACHI: Stock pric­es slightly went up as trading began on Monday before bears took over the exchange on the negative news flow. Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark of representative shares of the Pakistan Stock Exchange lost steam because of continuous economic and political uncertainties. Negative triggers plun­ged the index to an intra-day low of 420.71 points. Investors chose to …

DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the internationally recognised government have agreed to swap more than 880 prisoners during negotiations in Switzerland, both sides said on Monday, in another hopeful sign as efforts accelerate to end the war. The agreed exchange comes after Saudi Arabia and Iran, who back opposing sides in the conflict, this month moved towards restoring diplomatic ties …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakis­tan Steel Mills (PSM) has opposed a bid by the Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd to take over its 1,400 acres for Rs43 billion, a valuation the mill’s management has described as “one-sided”. The takeover bid has been made against the mill’s outstanding liabilities that the gas company’s management has worked out at Rs48bn as of Dec 31, …

Oil prices fell on Monday to their lowest in 15 months on concerns risks in the global banking sector may cause a recession that would lead fuel demand to decline and ahead of a potential hike in United States interest rates this week. Brent crude futures for May settlement fell $2.32, or 3.2 per cent, to $70.65 a barrel at …

The rupee remained under pressure on Monday, with analysts citing the uncertainty surrounding the revival of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and a lack of confidence in the government. The local currency closed at Rs284.03 per dollar, according to data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). This equates to a depreciation of Rs2.32 or 0.82 per cent …