Business

KARACHI: Trading on the stock exchange commenced on a positive note in the outgoing week as investors celebrated the reported progress towards the resolution of the circular debt, said Arif Habib Ltd. The benchmark index of the stock market remained in then green zone subsequently as Pakistan secured more than $10 billion in pledges from international financial institutions. The United …

LAHORE: Part of the 820 wagons procurement contract, Pakistan Railways (PR) is set to receive the first consignment of completely built units (CBUs) of 70 high-capacity flat wagons from China on Monday. “Despatched on Dec 25 by the Chinese firm, the wagons will reach Karachi port on Monday,” PR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer Abdul Haseeb told Dawn on Saturday. “These are the flat …

KARACHI: The banking sector will be exposed to a “systemic risk” should the prevailing uncertainty continue for another few months, Habib Bank Ltd CEO Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Friday. Speaking at a summit on financial crimes, the CEO of the largest commercial bank warned the participants about a “big blow to the economy” if the stakeholders didn’t make the right …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday issued no-objection-certificates (NOCs) to five applicants — Easy Paisa DB, Hugo Bank, KT Bank, Mashreq Bank, and Raqami — for establishing digital banks. In January last year, the SBP introduced a Licensing and Regulatory Framework for Digital Banks in line with international best practices. The framework was the first step towards …

KARACHI: Despite a 30-59 per cent drop in sales of various models due to unfavourable economic conditions that led to plant closure from Dec 20-30, 2022, Indus Motor Company (IMC) has surprised its buyers by jacking up the prices by Rs280,000 to Rs1.2 million. In another development, Millat Tractors Ltd (MTL) has decided to resume its operations from Jan 16. …

ISLAMABAD: A former member of the board of directors of K-Electric has raised serious questions over the integrity of financial results and alleged illegitimate build-up of more than Rs375 billion claims by the Karachi-based power utility against the federal government. Former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Pakistan (ICAP) Asad Ali Shah in a letter to the Pakistan Stock …

Bitcoin rose on Saturday above $20,000 for the first time in over two months. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, rose 4.6 per cent to $20,853 at 01:01 GMT on Saturday, adding $922 to its previous close. The cryptocurrency is up 26.4pc from the year’s low of $16,496 on January 1. Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain …

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation, measured by Sensitive Price Index (SPI), posted an increase of 31.75 per cent for the combined income group on a year-on-year basis ending Jan 12 due to a massive surge in prices of both food and non-food items, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. However, the SPI on a week-on-week …

Oil prices slipped in early trade on Friday but were on track for gains of more than six per cent for the week on solid signs of demand growth in top crude-oil importer China and expectations of less aggressive interest rate rises in the United States. Brent crude futures had fallen 33 cents, or 0.4pc, to $83.70 a barrel by …

KARACHI: In the absence of any dollar inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or friendly countries, foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) dropped to $4.34 billion, the lowest since February 2014. The SBP said on Thursday its reserves decreased by $1.23bn during the week ending on Jan 6 due to external debt repayments. The country …