Business

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved a $235 million loan to upgrade a national highway considered crucial to regional connectivity and strengthen the government’s capacity to improve operation and maintenance of the highway network. The project will expand the 222km Shikarpur-Rajanpur section of the National Highway-55 (N55) from two lanes into a four-lane carriageway. N55 is part …

KARACHI: Power consumers of 10 ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) may pay additional Rs1.46 per unit on account of the monthly fuel cost adjustment for July. The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has filed a petition with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to raise additional revenue for ex-Wapda Discos whose fuel cost for July surged 50.6 per cent on …

LAHORE: The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) on Friday asked the Petroleum Division to resubmit in its next meeting the draft of the Pakistan Oil Refinery Policy 2021 for approval after detailed deliberation and consensus with the stakeholders. The CCoE headed by the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, however, approved Power Division’s proposal seeking elimination …

KARACHI: Amid rising imports, the country posted a current account deficit (CAD) of $773 million in the first month of 2021-22 against a surplus of $583m in July 2020. The data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday showed that the country’s current account had been in deficit since December 2020. In January it was $229m, $50m …

DHAKA: Bangladesh is suffering through its deadliest surge of the pandemic, but you wouldn’t know it looking at its factories, markets and malls. The South Asian nation home to 165 million people has done away with most virus restrictions, allowing businesses to reopen to enthusiastic crowds following weeks of strict measures put in place following the arrival of the highly …

BENGALURU: Afghanistan’s economy could shrink by as much as 20 per cent this year and its currency may slide further than it already has following the Taliban’s takeover, Fitch Solutions said on Friday. The Taliban seized power last weekend from a US-backed government, sending thousands fleeing and potentially heralding a return to the militants’ austere and autocratic rule of two …

KARACHI: Credit cards remain out of reach for most Pakistanis even though plastic cards of other kinds continue to gain a firm foothold in the country of 212 million people. There were only 1.68m credit cards at the end of March, which constitutes a share of 3.8 per cent in 44.5m payment cards currently in existence. Debit cards form almost …

LAHORE: Airlift, a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has raised $85 million in Series B financing, the largest single private funding round in Pakistan’s history. The financing is about twice the size of the largest private company IPO in the country’s history and the highest in the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region. Airlift Technologies Co-founder and CEO Usman …

KARACHI: For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic made its way to Pakistan in March 2020, the inflow of foreign investment in Treasury bills (T-bill) has surpassed the outflow in August despite a drastic cut in rates. Latest data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) shows the inflow of foreign investment in T-bills in the month up …

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Friday that he believed the energy sector to be the government’s “Achilles heel”, and it would take at least five to seven years to resolve the issues the sector was facing. Addressing businessmen at the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said the government was trying to fix the problems the sector …