Business

KARACHI: Onion sells at Rs250 per kg in Karachi while in other parts of the country the rate hovers between Rs200-320 due to limited arrivals from Sindh and Balochistan crops and additional taxes on import of the staple food item from Jan 1. As per Sensitive Price Index data, the national average of onion prices on the week ending Jan …

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Former finance minister Shaukat Tarin has demanded the resignation of incumbent finance czar Ishaq Dar for pushing Pakistan to the “brink of default” and causing “immeasurable sufferings” to the masses through his imprudent economic policies. Responding to the presser addressed by the finance minister on Friday, Senator Tarin, in a statement, rejected the claims made by Senator Dar regarding …

ISLAMABAD: The government has prepared two draft ordinances to impose Rs200 billion in new taxes, an official said on Saturday, days after the government accepted International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demands to resume a stalled loan programme. The government is also mulling discontinuing the power sector subsidy and unleashing sales tax on raw materials for the export sector, especially textile industrialists …

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday morning announced a Rs35 increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, in a televised address just minutes before the new prices went into force. In the address, which began at 10:50am, Dar unveiled the price revision that went into effect at 11:00am — 10 minutes later. He said that speculation was rife on …

SYDNEY: An urgent search was underway in Western Australia on Saturday after a tiny radioactive capsule was reported to have gone missing while being transported from a mine. The 8mm by 6mm silver capsule, which is used in mining operations, has been unaccounted for since mid-January, emergency services said. It contains the radioactive substance Caesium-137, according to Western Australia’s health …

Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspensions and be evaluated under the social media platform’s new criteria for reinstatement, starting Feb 1, the company said on Friday. Under the new criteria, which follow billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of the company in October, Twitter accounts will only be suspended for severe or ongoing and repeat violations of the platform’s …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, recalling the long-standing and fraternal ties between Pakistan and Qatar on Friday, underscored the importance of translating the relationship into a concrete economic partnership. The PM was talking to the ambassador of Qatar in Pakistan, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who called on him here. The envoy conveyed a special goodwill message of emir of …

KARACHI: As the rupee depreciated by 13.7 per cent against the US dollar in the last two days, the one-tola gold rate for the first time crossed the Rs200,000 mark despite a $6 drop on world markets to $1,936 per ounce on Friday. According to the All Sindh Saraf Jewellers Association (ASSJA), the one-tola rate surged by Rs7,000 to Rs202,500 …

KARACHI: Manufacturers on Friday again jacked up steel bar prices to an unprecedented high of Rs277,000 per tonne blaming a massive rupee devaluation and rising prices of raw materials that pushed up the cost of production. After increasing the prices by Rs10,000 less than a week ago, the steel makers delivered the second price shock of Rs22,000 per tonne despite …

KARACHI: Days after the removal of an artificial upper cap on the rupee that sent the local currency into a nosedive, the dollar’s rate in the black market has come on a par with that in the open market, but uncertainty kept both the seller and buyers away on Friday. The rupee closed at 262.6 per dollar in the interbank market, down …