Business

KARACHI: The country’s current account recorded a deficit of $7 billion in the first five months (July to November) of the current fiscal year, mainly on account of increasing imports, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed on Monday. At $1.91bn, November saw the highest monthly current account deficit since July 2018 when it reached $2.1bn. This was the year …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved $252 million loans to Pakistan for two projects — the construction of Mohmand Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and for anti-Covid vaccine support in the country. The approval from the bank’s board of directors was conveyed by IDB President Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Jasser to Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan at a …

Social exclusion and its fallout have prompted policymakers, think tanks and economists to engage in the national discourse on how to forge an inclusive and sustainable development agenda with required policy adjustments. While it is recognised that economic growth is important for raising national output, it is also being increasingly acknowledged that growth is not socially sustainable as retribution of …

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered the lifeblood of any nation’s economy and rightly so because of their high share of employment and value addition. In Pakistan, there are about 3.8 million SMEs which according to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, constitute around 80 to 90 per cent of the country’s private enterprises from industrial, services and …

As over 87,000 people watched in person, Pakistan won its first, and only (as yet), ICC Cricket World Cup in 1992, a win so cherished that the captain of the team eventually was elected to lead the nation. The country is cricket crazed, no one doubts that. So why then have the stands been so empty during the Pakistan vs West …

ISLAMABAD: Despite 67 per cent power supplies from cheap domestic resources with static prices, ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) have sought almost 116pc increase — Rs4.33 per unit (kWh) — in fuel price adjustment for electricity they sold in November to grab around Rs36 billion additional funds. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has accepted their petition for public hearing …

Turkey’s troubled lira shed a further five per cent against the dollar on Monday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited Muslim teachings to justify not raising interest rates to stabilise the currency. Erdogan has pushed the central bank to sharply lower borrowing costs despite the annual rate of inflation soaring to more than 20pc. Economists believe the policy could see consumer price …

LAHORE: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has asked the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to allow it to spend Rs46.525 billion for execution of several development schemes, including 300,000 new gas connections to domestic consumers during the ongoing fiscal year (FY22) ending on June 30, 2022. The SNGPL has also sought permission for executing two mega projects …

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has decided to strike off more than 3,000 non-performing companies from its books in a bid to streamline the working of registered companies. The SECP has served final notices to 2,094 companies registered in Peshawar, 462 in Quetta, 844 in Multan, 26 in Faisalabad and six in Gilgit. The names of …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s non-textile exports grew 24.59 per cent year-on-year to $4.61 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year owing to the partial revival of international orders and the government support schemes. Overall growth in the non-textile sector is mainly led by the value-added sectors. The non-textile sectors have yet to receive full orders to pre-Covid levels, …