Business

ISLAMABAD: The export of telecommunication and information technology grew 40 per cent to $958 million in the first half-year of the current fiscal year from $684m over the corresponding period of last year, reflecting a higher boost in the post-Covid-19 period. “The ICT exports will soon become a very important sector in Pakistan’s total exports of services and I am …

KARACHI: The monetary policy announcement immediately caught the attention of trade and industry on Friday, but analysts found it to be more than a bi-monthly interest rate call. For the first time the central bank provided additional confidence to the stakeholders of the economy by saying clearly that the interest rate would remain unchanged in near-term. Most analysts think near-term means the …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is considering injecting $35.58 million as second bailout package for the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, New York, that is owned by Pakistan International Airlines Investment Limited (PIAIL), a hotel industry magazine reported on Friday. The Hotel Management, a magazine that started in 1922 in New York, also reported that Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet had discussed setting …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday dismissed a set of petitions challenging privatisation of K-Electric (KE) and transfer of the company’s shares and administrative control to a Dubai-based Abraaj Capital. The power utility’s labour union had filed five identical petitions between 2005 to 2015 challenging the company’s privatisation. The labour union contended that the privatisation process for the …

KARACHI: Stocks staged a rally on Thursday that saw the KSE-100 index climb 307.52 points, or 0.67 per cent, to close at 45,984.46. The market took off on a positive note as investors sought shares for value buying that had turned pretty attractive after massive selling on most days during the week. The index hit intraday high by 467 points …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan has launched a portal for complaint resolution to promote affordable housing in the country that would help the potential customers and also promote low-cost housing initiated by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The SBP said that the prime minister presided over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development (NCCHCD) in …

Bitcoin fell heavily on Friday and was heading towards its sharpest weekly drop since last March, as worries over its technology and regulation extended a pullback from recent record highs. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency fell more than 5 per cent to an almost three-week low of $28,800 in the Asia session, before steadying around $30,000. It has lost 15pc …

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept interest rates on hold at 7 per cent on Friday as it sought to balance economic headwinds from the Covid-19 pandemic with the need to curb inflation. “The [Monetary Policy Committee] felt that the existing accommodative stance of monetary policy remained appropriate to support the nascent recovery while keeping inflation expectations well-anchored,” SBP said …

ISLAMABAD: The Right of Way (ROW) Policy for the telecom sector — recently approved by the federal cabinet — clears a large number of hurdles faced by telcos and internet service providers in the installation and maintenance of their telecommunication equipment and expansion of systems across the country. The policy was approved in a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday. A …

ISLAMABAD: Amid rising prices, the government on Wednesday decided to allow tax- and duty-free import of 800,000 tonnes of sugar and 300,000 tonnes of wheat to beef up buffer stocks. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet presided over by Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh. The ECC allowed tax- and duty-free …