Business

Pakistan on Tuesday signed three loan agreements worth a total of $918 million with the World Bank. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh witnessed the signing of the agreement between Country Director World Bank Patchamuthu Illangovan and Economic Affairs Division Secretary Noor Ahmed. The representatives of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) …

ISLAMABAD: The government has formed a high-powered body also comprising military authorities to formulate development and economy-oriented policies of the country. The National Development Council (NDC) to be headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan will also have Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as one of its members. The federal cabinet approved the formation of the NDC …

KARACHI: The debate on the provincial budget began in the Sindh Assembly on Monday, which was a rare quiet day since the opposition sat on their benches patiently despite rejection of their resolution by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, who did it on the grounds that no other business could be taken up during discussion on budget. Before the budget discussion …

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government will present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s seventh consecutive budget today (Tuesday) with an outlay of around Rs900 billion. Finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra will unveil the budget in the provincial assembly, which is scheduled to meet at 3pm. Sources told Dawn that the budget had the highest development allocation in the province’s history of more than Rs230 …

KARACHI: A fresh wave of food inflation coupled with increase in compressed natural gas (CNG) prices has increased inflationary pressures on consumers. Moreover, the aftershocks from the persistent decline in rupee’s value are also likely to take their toll consumer’s buying power in the coming months. Some CNG outlets have also started charging Rs107 per kg of gas compared to …

KARACHI: The stock market snapped the four-session gaining streak and reverted to the negative territory. On Monday, the KSE-100 index lost 404.13 points (1.14 per cent) and closed at 35,168.82. It wiped off minor gains of 68 points (0.19pc) that the index had accumulated the previous week as a result of market’s oversold position. The market started out in the …

ISLAMABAD: A key parliamentary panel on Monday rejected a number of crucial budgetary measures including the treatment of mis-declaration of value of imports and exports as money laundering with 10-year imprisonment and giving powers to prime minister, instead of the federal cabinet, to appoint judges of customs courts. While discussing the Finance bill 2019, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, …

True to its word to the International Monetary Fund, the PTI’s new economic team has rolled out an apparently aggressive revenue plan for the next fiscal year beginning July 1. The budget 2019-20 has committed to deliver 0.6 per cent of primary balance, notwithstanding the highest ever fiscal deficit target of 7.2pc of GDP. The central bank has hiked its …

The PTI administration has proposed a budget for the next fiscal year that is designed to contract the economy, targeting a growth rate of 2.4pc — the slowest pace at which the economy will expand in a decade — to put it back on the road to stabilisation. For many, even this low growth rate target for 2019-20 is a …

As growth in agriculture sector tanked to 0.85pc in the current fiscal year against the target of 3.8pc, the PTI government plans to spend Rs280bn on this sector during its five-year term. The purpose is to help recover growth in agriculture with the help of provinces in whose administrative domain it falls. In the outgoing fiscal year, a paltry sum …