Business

KARACHI: The rupee crashed to an all-time low against the dollar on Thursday, crossing the 180 threshold in the interbank market. The local currency fell 0.35pc (or 63 paise) against the US currency to close at Rs180.07, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data. With the fresh slide, the rupee has now lost around 2pc since the beginning …

ISLAMABAD: Amid political challenges, the government increased the minimum support price for wheat by 13pc on Thursday, with a public sector procurement target of 6.9 million tonnes at the cost of Rs376 billion. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin. The meeting also approved another Rs79bn funds, …

KARACHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) fell year-on-year (YoY) by 33 per cent and declined by 17.3pc compared to preceding month of January, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed on Thursday. According to the SBP data, FDI inflows during July-Feb 2021-22 (8MFY22) noted a positive growth of 6pc compared to the same period of last fiscal year. The …

KARACHI: Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said on Wednesday electric vehicles (EVs) are taking off “slowly” following the approval of the National Electric Vehicle Policy. “I think once it gets to an inflection point, we’ll see a substantial increase in EVs in Pakistan,” he said while addressing the Pakistan Climate Conference 2022 organised by the Overseas Chambers of …

KARACHI: Bulls dominated the stock market on Wednesday, although the overall volume remained unimpressive owing to a fluid political situation in Islamabad. According to Standard Capital Securities, the government’s apathy towards the Pakistan Stock Exchange is one of the reasons for the dull trading volumes in recent sessions. “Asset managers want clear economic directions. The situation is bad with respect …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wed­nesday said that it has facilitated microfinance banks to lend for low-cost housing and micro and small enterprises through amendments in prudential regulations. “Building on the measures taken in recent years to encourage financing to priority areas, the central bank has revised prudential regulations for microfinance banks (MFBs) to promote access to …

ISLAMABAD: The stockbrokers have asked the government to provide tax incentives to encourage investments in the stock market. A delegation of the Pakistan Stockbrokers Association (PSBA) met Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Wednes­day and presented their budget proposals for 2022-23. They said that the current high rate of Capital Gains Tax of 12.5 per cent was discouraging investments in the …

Digital accounting app Metric, which caters to small and medium businesses (SMBs) and startups, has raised $900,000 in pre-seed funding in an oversubscribed round, the fintech announced on Thursday. The Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP)-based company raised the funding in a round led by i2i Ventures, along with participation from local and international venture capitalists (VCs), including Ratio …

Bazaar, a B2B marketplace from Pakistan, has raised $70million in a Series B round led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global Management, according to a press release issued by the company. The latest funding comes only six months after the company announced a $30m Series A in August 2021, bringing the total funding secured to date to $107.8m across four …

ISLAMABAD: Textile and clothing exports grew 26.08 per cent year-on-year to $12.60 billion in the first eight months of this fiscal year (8MFY22), mainly on the back of a massive depreciation in the rupee’s value and a steady rise in global demand. Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday in February the textile and clothing exports grew …