Business

Oil prices climbed for a fourth straight day on Thursday with United States crude, heating oil and jet fuel stocks growing tighter just as a wintry blast hits the US and travel is set to soar for its holiday season. Brent crude futures gained 44 cents, or 0.54 per cent, to $82.64 at 0422 GMT, extending gains of around 2.7pc …

KARACHI: The central bank has lowered its projected GDP growth from the previously announced range of 3-4 per cent for the current fiscal year, citing flood-induced destruction and the stabilisation policy as major factors in its flagship economic health report released on Wednesday. However, in its Annual Report on the State of Pakistan’s Economy, which mostly discussed the previous financial year that ended on …

Elon Musk said on Tuesday he would resign as chief executive of Twitter once he finds a replacement, in an apparent response to a poll he launched that suggested users wanted him to step down. Musk has fully owned Twitter since October 27 and has repeatedly courted controversy as CEO, sacking half of its staff, readmitting far-right figures to the platform, suspending journalists and …

ISLAMABAD: Displeased at the continued absence of the power minister and K-Electric’s chief executive from its meetings, a Senate panel on Tuesday sought a complete record of the original privatisation and subsequent changes to the shareholding structure of Karachi’s power utility and vowed to hold its management answerable to the city’s people. The committee, led by Senator Saifullah Abro, also …

ISLAMABAD: The Pak­istani diaspora in the United States asked Islamabad on Tuesday to work out a long-term strategy to ensure predictability in policymaking along with ensuring ease of doing business to attract investment in the manufacturing sector. The diaspora at a panel discussion on US-Pakistani Diaspora’s Commercial Investments in Pakistan shared current and future opportunities and challenges in sectors of …

Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday as a larger-than-expected draw in United States crude stocks offset worries about rising Covid-19 cases in top oil importer China. Brent crude futures rose seven cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $80.06 per barrel by 0404 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained four cents, or 0.1pc, to $76.27. US …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued their downtrend for the third consecutive day on Thursday as political and economic uncertainty continued to prevail. The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 39,342.89 points, down 489.56 points or 1.23 per cent. It reached an intraday low of 555.75 points or 1.39pc around 3:28pm. Aba Ali Habib Securities’ Salman Naqvi said the …

ISLAMABAD: Zong4G has initiated the tests of its digital nano-bank by the name of “PayMax” to become the last of all the four mobile service providers launching its fintech. The mobile based app — PayMax is likely to be launched in the first week of January, 2023, sources in the company said. Currently, Zone4G is Pakistan’s third largest mobile service …

ISLAMABAD: The Com­petition Commission of Pak­istan (CCP) has issued an order in favour of Nayatel and CyberNet against Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) for abusing its dominant position. Pesco was dominant in the market for “Right of Way (ROW) through electric poles availed by different types of cable service providers in the geographic boundary of Peshawar,” as it solely owned/managed …

KARACHI: The cost of fuel for electricity generation in November went down by more than one-third to Rs5.99 per unit from a month ago, according to data recently released by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority. A 27.1pc reduction in the cost of coal-based electricity contributed to the overall drop of 33.6 per cent in the average fuel cost in …