Business

KARACHI: The amount of outstanding auto loans decreased for the fourth consecutive month at the end of October, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Monday. The outstanding auto financing stood at Rs345 billion at the end of last month, which is 0.1 per cent lower than the October 2021 figure of Rs346bn. The latest outstanding …

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Commit­tee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday accepted offers for the import of almost 950,000 tonnes of wheat including 450,000 tonnes from Russia at the same rate of $372 per tonne. With this, Russia has become the single largest wheat supplier to Pakistan this year, taking total quantities to 750,000 tonnes. The meeting of the ECC …

KARACHI: Engro Corporation Ltd said on Monday it’s looking for an investment opportunity in the mobile infrastructure business, which typically involves purpose-built towers with communication equipment allowing area residents to use wireless devices. Even though the securities filing didn’t mention the potential size of investment — or name the target of acquisition — market reports suggest the conglomerate is trying …

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has advised the prime minister to establish a dedicated coal authority to deal with all issues about coal imports, including tendering, product specifications and related matters. This was disclosed by Nepra chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui while presiding over a public hearing on guidelines for coal import as some stakeholders including independent power …

ZURICH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is considering investing around $500 million in a new Credit Suisse investment bank spin-off, CS First Boston, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the US financial newspaper listed several potential investors in the new unit. In addition to the Saudi crown prince, the potential investors include …

State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik announced on Monday that Russia has decided to provide crude oil, petrol, and diesel to Pakistan at discounted rates. The decision comes a month after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the country is considering buying discounted Russian oil, pointing out that neighbour India has been purchasing oil from Moscow and Islamabad also has …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange began the week in the red as uncertainty looms on the outlook for the country’s foreign exchange reserves with no clarity on when the pending ninth review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will conclude. Pakistan’s forex reserves stood at a historic low of $7.5 billion for the week ending on November 25 — …

Oil prices edged up on Monday after OPEC+ nations held their output targets steady ahead of a European Union ban and a price cap kicking in on Russian crude. At the same time, in a positive sign for fuel demand, more Chinese cities eased Covid-19 curbs over the weekend, though the partial easing in policies sowed confusion across the country on Monday. …

ISLAMABAD: Despite unprecedented hike in inter­national oil and gas prices and resultant incr­ease in import bill of two essential commodities, the two gas utilities have failed to control system losses against regulatory targets approved by the government. Over the last three years (2019-22), both the gas utilities — Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited …

After two years of unprecedented profitability, Pakistan’s textiles and clothing exports are facing a strong demand downturn as consumers tighten their belts in the US, Europe and other markets. But Pakistani textile manufacturers aren’t the only ones experiencing this gloomy situation; the orders in the world’s every garment exporting country, including China, India and Bangladesh, have been slowing because of …