Business

LAHORE: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir on Tuesday reassured the business community of facilitation of priority sectors, including agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), housing and exports. He was speaking at the cheque distribution ceremony held at the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) to mark disbursement of the first set of loans by Meezan …

ISLAMABAD: A freight train service was inaugurated here on Tuesday with an aim to boost trade between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, inaugurated the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) freight train at Margalla railway station. Ambassadors of Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan …

Tazah, a B2B agriculture marketplace in Pakistan, announced on Wednesday that it has raised another $4.5 million in a pre-seed round after last raising $2m in October. A statement issued by the startup said it was “Pakistan’s largest pre-seed round extension” and brought the total amount raised to $6.5m. It added that the extension was co-led by Fatima Gobi Ventures …

KARACHI: The bullish trend continued on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as investors’ confidence remained high following the central bank’s liquidity injection into the money market last week. The PSX remained in the green zone throughout the day, although profit-taking occurred in the first trading hour. Arif Habib Ltd said the sectors recording bullish activity included cement, steel …

LAHORE: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir on Monday appreciated the banks for providing unprecedented Rs1.4 trillion agri loans during 2020-21. Chairing the annual meeting of the Agricultural Credit Advisory Committee (ACAC) in Multan, Dr Baqir acknowledged the fact that despite Covid-19 pandemic challenges, collective efforts of 50 financial institutions under ACAC guidance helped to achieve 91pc …

KARACHI: Bank financing for automobiles jumped 42 per cent year-on-year to Rs349 billion in November. However, month-on-month, it grew by a paltry 1pc, data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday showed. “This is the lowest monthly increase after July 2020 when it stood at Rs215bn,” said Arsalan Hanif of Arif Habib Securities attributing the slowdown to the …

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 …