Business

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that its agreement with Pakistan would lead to a “straight away” disbursement of $1.17 billion to the country. “It’s an agreement on a combined seventh and eighth review of the programme… that will translate into about $1.17 billion being disbursed to Pakistan. Pretty much, straight away,” IMF’s Communication Director Gerry Rice said …

KARACHI: The stock market remained range-bound on Friday as investors opted for profit taking following the recent rise in share prices, said Arif Habib Ltd. Even though the benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the positive zone, lacklustre activity pulled the index down by as much as 321 points in intraday trading. The trading volume remained dry on the main board …

MOSCOW: Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, more than doubled the amount of Russian fuel oil it imported in the second quarter to feed power stations to meet summer cooling demand and free up the kingdoms own crude for export, data showed and traders said. Russia has been selling fuel at discounted prices after international sanctions over its invasion …

ISLAMABAD: There is a need to encourage local IT companies to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects for eventual entry into the Chinese market, the Advisory Council on Information Technology (IT) and Digital Economy said on Thursday. At the first meeting of the advisory council, it was stressed that there must be consistency in government policies to be …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his address to the nation on Thursday, announced that the price of petrol was being cut by Rs18.50 and diesel by Rs40.54. The price cut, which takes place after four rounds of massive hikes under the current government, will go into effect at midnight tonight. The prime minister began his speech by explaining that he had inherited …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) on Thursday said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should exempt the essential industries from the condition of prior permission from the central bank for the import of spares and instruments. In a letter to SBP acting governor Dr Murtaza Syed on Thursday, PBC chief executive Ehsan Malik said that inordinate delays in …

LONDON: Stock markets mostly retreated on Thursday as fresh evidence of runaway global inflation ramped up expectations of more aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks, while disappointing earnings revived recession fears. That sent the dollar rising, helping push oil prices sharply lower and the euro briefly below $1.00. Eurozone inflation will end the year at 7.6 per cent, much …

HYDERABAD: The Hyder­­­­­abad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) on Thursday urged the Sindh government to lift business hours restrictions, stressing that trade and businesses are nearing bankruptcy amid rising power prices and depreciating rupee. In a statement, HCCI President Adeel Siddiqui said, “Businessmen and traders are following the business restrictions schedule of the Sindh government as desired amid high …

KARACHI: Banks’ advances witnessed a significant increase of 21 per cent in the outgoing fiscal year (FY22), reflecting the higher economic growth during the year ended on June 30. The latest data issued by the State Bank on Thursday showed that total advances reached Rs10.886 trillion by the end of FY22 from Rs8.996tr in FY21, an increase of Rs1.889tr or …

KARACHI: The impact of the proposed gas price hike of up to 235 per cent on monthly headline inflation will be between 50 and 100 basis points. Speaking to Dawn on Wednesday, Topline Securities Deputy Director of Research Umair Naseer said the month-on-month reading of the consumer price index (CPI) would increase up to one percentage point because of the revised gas prices if …