Business

Pakistanis will start 2022 from a peak of expensive energy in 2021. The pattern appears set to go on into this year with higher average gas rates, oil prices and electricity costs. There are no indications that a major decline in transmission and distribution losses in the electricity and gas sector is likely to take root in the 12 months …

SHAKING off last year’s haunting images of human misery around them, Pakistanis remained true to their elements and refused to surrender to despair. Be they images of makeshift crematoriums in India at the height of Covid outbreak in June, or those of Afghans, desperate to leave the country after the Taliban takeover, falling to death on the tarmac of Kabul …

Inflation posed an immediate challenge for Pakistan in 2021. But in 2022 inflationary pressures should ease — thanks to a double dose of monetary tightening administered towards the end of 2021. However, the government will face some other big challenges like managing its fiscal balance, checking the current account deficit and maintaining economic growth momentum. Even before the 250 basis …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit doubled to $24.79 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year, mainly on the back of a 63 per cent year-on-year increase in imports, according to the government’s provisional data. Data for the July-December period showed that imports jumped to $39.91bn from $24.47bn a year ago. In contrast, exports during July-December also grew 25pc …

If and when the history of Pakistan’s technology sector is written, 2021 will be a standout year that saw the space emerge from a niche followed only by those working in it to the mainstream, well on Twitter at least. The key reason for that was obviously money finally started pouring in, and not just a handful of million dollars. …

KARACHI: The Collectorate of Customs Appraisement, Quetta, seized illegal urea fertiliser worth Rs7.2 million being smuggled to Afghanistan, according to a press release issued on Saturday. Upon receiving a tip-off about a vehicle carrying urea to Afghanistan from Chaman in the garb of fresh vegetables, the assistant collector at Custom House, Chaman, formed a team to ensure an effective execution …

KARACHI: Commodity producers across Pakistan will soon be able to directly sell their merchandise globally and receive payments promptly without having to register as exporters. Speaking to Dawn, Pakistan Mer­cantile Exchange (PMEX) Mana­ging Director Ejaz Ali Shah said the country’s only commodity futures exchange has set up a first-of-its-kind online marketplace under the name of Global Commodity Trading Platform (GCTP). “The …

KARACHI: Finance Ministry spokesperson Muzzammil Aslam took exception to the term “mini-budget” for describing the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, saying the legislative move is aimed at fixing the tax system instead of increasing revenue collection. “Mini-budget is what every government presented every year from 2002 to 2018. They’d miss collection targets and then revise the tax rates through mini-budgets. But …

ISLAMABAD: Prices of consumer goods continued to rise in December as inflation edged up to 12.3 per cent from 11.5pc, the largest increase recorded in nearly two years, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statis­tics (PBS) data released on Saturday. Inflation — measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — has increased to its highest level in 21 months — …

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the idea of granting Pakistani citizenship to investors from Afghanistan alone, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that such a policy should not be limited to any single country. According to official circles, the idea of granting permanent residency or citizenship to foreign nationals interested in investing in Pakistan was shared during a recent meeting of the Afghanistan …