Business

Following the imposition of fines of more than $55 million by United States authorities on the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), its president Arif Usmani said the penalty was for “historical compliance programme weaknesses and delays in making compliance-related enhancements”, adding that the bank’s system has improved under a new management. In a letter addressed to the general manager of the Pakistan …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thurs­day cleared a legal mechanism to provide for barter trade with two sanctions-hit neighbours — Iran and Afghanistan. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet which also decided to build 500,000 tonnes of strategic reserves of sugar and lift 1.2 million tonnes of wheat at a minimum support …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court intends to examine the Competition Act of 2010, along with a set of ordinances, to determine whether it violates the Constitution by creating a parallel judicial system as it invests the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and appellate tribunals with judicial powers. Headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, a three-judge Supreme Court bench took up a set …

ISLAMABAD: Amid the confusion and contradictory positions from power companies, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) remained undecided whether or not to pass on Rs28 billion additional burden to the consumers of Distribution Companies (Discos) of ex-Wapda. A public hearing presided over by Nepra chairman Tauseef. H. Farooqi finally directed the Discos to re-submit reconciled data on account of …

ISLAMABAD: Struggling with current account challenges and foreign exchange reserves, the PTI government borrowed more than $12 billion from abroad in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (7MFY22), almost 81 per cent higher than foreign loans it secured in comparable period last year. The monthly report of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) on foreign inflows showed …

Oil prices broke past $100 and safe havens surged while equities, including the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark 100 index, tumbled on Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “military operation” in Ukraine, accelerating fears of a major war. Oil prices rocketed more than five percent with Brent moving within spitting distance of the $100 not seen since September 2014, …

KARACHI: Local fintech platform NayaPay has raised $13 million in one of the largest seed rounds in South Asia, a press release said on Wednesday. NayaPay recently secured the first E-Money Institution (EMI) licence from the central bank. It aims to make financial services simpler and accessible with its two-sided platform for the underbanked. Zayn Capital, global fund manager MSA …

ISLAMABAD: In a twist of events, the K-Electric has sought about Rs3.40 per unit increase in its monthly fuel price adjustment (FPA) for electricity it sold to consumers in January to generate Rs3.73bn in additional revenue in April. The KE’s request for higher FPA came days after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) notified a negative FPA of Rs2.5953/kWh …

KARACHI: Geopolitical uncertainty with fluctuations in the exchange rate kept hitting hard the local currency as it lost 48-paisa against the US dollar on Tuesday. The greenback price rose to Rs176.23 in the interbank market after losing 11-paisa a day earlier. Despite higher inflows in the account of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee could not get stronger …

ISLAMABAD: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank, has approved a $1.2 billion financing under the annual plan to provide Pakistan integrated trade solutions to support the energy and agriculture sectors. The annual plan agreement for calendar 2022 includes financing for the import of essential commodities such as crude oil, refined petroleum products, …