Business

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan launched construction work on the Torkham-to-Nowshera portion of the $1.17 billion Central Asia-South Asia Regional Trade and Transmission Project (CASA-1000) on Wednesday. A virtual launching ceremony was hosted by Dr Bandar Hajjar, president of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan. The state-run National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) will undertake construction of a …

Apple Inc’s smartphone shipments jumped 22 per cent to record levels in the fourth quarter, making it the world’s biggest seller, while those for Huawei plunged as US sanctions took effect. An expanded number of models and a new look for the iPhone 12 lineup, Apple’s first 5G-enabled devices, tapped pent up demand for upgrades, especially in China. Shipments hit …

ISLAMABAD: The country’s fiscal deficit widened to 1.8 per cent, or Rs822 billion, of GDP in the first five months of FY21 compared to 1.6pc (Rs676bn) in the corresponding period last year. The Ministry of Finance in its monthly economic update and outlook, released on Tuesday, observed that the current outlook ensures economic revival on the basis of continued recovery …

ISLAMABAD: As the opposition smelled a rat in the closure of a PIA-owned luxury hotel in New York, the government on Tuesday told the Senate there was no plan to privatise Roosevelt Hotel. The opposition said it appeared that the government was preparing ground to sell out the 19-storey hotel at a throw-away price. PPP Senator Raza Rabbani alleged that …

KARACHI: Repatriation of profits was 26 per cent higher than the inflow of foreign investment during the first half of the current fiscal year. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Tuesday that the total outflow of profits and dividends was $892 million while the total foreign investment was $708m during the July-December period of 2020-21. Moreover, the profits …

ISLAMABAD: The current status and progress as well as probable timeline for the completion of the transaction of Pakistan Steel Mills were discussed at a high-level meeting chaired jointly by the ministers for privatisation and industries and production on Tuesday. The valuation of core assets to be transferred to a new subsidiary is under way and will likely be completed …

ISLAMABAD: In an interesting development, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has filed with the Election Comamission of Pakistan (ECP) an application demanding an inquiry into allegations that Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman and other party leaders frequently visited Libya and Iraq and received funding from there. In the application addressed to the chief election commissioner, PTI MNA Farrukh Habib referred …

KARACHI: On the first day of the rollover week, investors at the stock market threw the usual caution to the wind even as the leverage position was at high Rs41.17 billion (Rs22.8bn open positions in the futures counter). Investors went into a buying spree that carried the KSE-100 index up by 219.60 points, or 0.48 per cent, to close at …

ISLAMABAD: With divergent financing priorities, Pakistan has asked the World Bank to focus its next five-year funding under Country Partnership Framework (CPF) on basic areas where the country lagged like human capital, poverty alleviation, stunting, revenue mobilisation and economic reforms. This was conveyed to a World Bank team led by Country Director Najy Benhassine on Monday by Minister for Economic …

ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Monday reviewed prices of essential food items and directed departments concerned to continue reviewing rates to ensure availability of cheaper products for end consumers. The NPMC meeting chaired by Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh also directed the Ministry of Industries (MoI) to ensure the price decline of goods in the international market …