Business

KARACHI: For the past three days, the rupee remained under pressure mainly on account of increasing demand for the US dollars due to very high oil prices in the international market. Currency experts in the interbank market said the dollar demand was still high despite a slowdown in the overall imports in February. The dollar rose by 43 paise in …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to remain on the so-called grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for another four months — i.e. until June — for a couple of unmet targets under the additional criteria. The concluding session of the plenary meeting of the FATF, a Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, is due on Friday …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday issued standards for unified Quick Response (QR) code to accelerate digitisation of retail payments. “These standards are to be met for issuing of QR codes and accepting of payments through the same. This initiative is a part of SBP’s drive to promote inclusion, innovation, and modernisation of payment systems in the …

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday promulgated an ordinance to amend the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 to extend the promotion package for industry and encourage entrepreneurs to invest in industrial undertakings out of their undisclosed assets. The promotion package is laden with incentives for industrial promotion, revival of sick units and foreign investment in industrial sector. Under the amnesty …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered forensic audit of a multi-million-rupee scam in the Establishment Division — the regulator of top bureaucracy — relating to fictitious purchase of stationery. This was disclosed during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday. The PAC was examining the audit report of the Establishment Divi­sion for 2019-20. The Establishment Division is …

ISLAMABAD: The country’s trade deficit widened 82 per cent year-on-year to $31.96 billion, largely driven by more than a double increase in imports compared to exports, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. An upward trend in the trade deficit was witnessed for the eighth consecutive month owing to an unprecedented increase in imports while exports …

ISLAMABAD: Amid hue and cry over financial challenges and rising receivables, the government and the oil industry failed on Wednesday to finalise a mechanism for payment of price differential claims arising out of recent price cuts announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, raising worries over product shortages. The oil industry and relevant government stakeholders had been raising the alarm over disruptions in …

ISLAMABAD: The prices of consumer goods have slowed slightly to 12.2 per cent in February from 13pc from the previous month, yet continue to be the largest increase recorded in two years, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data released on Tuesday. Inflation — measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — is at its highest level in …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Tuesday announced nationwide seven-and-a-half hour daily power cuts, the longest in more than a quarter of a century, as its foreign exchange crisis leaves it unable to import oil. The Public Utilities Commission said it was a “black day” for the island nation as it approved the electricity rationing starting Wednesday with power stations running out …

A GOVERNMENT official who has been criticised for stalling the sale of K-Electric (KE) Ltd to Shanghai Electric Power Company in 2018 said he was protecting the “national interest” after his requests to see the terms of the transaction were refused. Irfan Ali, privatisation secretary from 2017 to 2018, said he wasn’t opposed to the sale of Karachi’s electricity utility …