Business

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday floated an urgent international tender for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo in the first part of January to meet anticipated peak winter shortage in the residential sector. The tender, issued by the state-run Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) with a four-day notice, asked bidders to submit technical and financial bids by Nov 24 for a standard …

ISLAMABAD: The Cen­tral Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) on Mon­day sought a massive Rs3.55 per unit as fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for ex-Wapda distribution comp­anies (Discos) to raise another Rs33bn from consumers in Dece­mber, des­pite a healthy 76 per cent ele­ctricity generation from cheaper domestic fuels. This comes on top of about 26pc increase in the annual base tariff and around …

The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recorded gains on Tuesday, staying above the 57,000-point level. According to the PSX website, KSE-100 index closed at 57,371.58 points, up 293.62 or 0.51 per cent from the previous close of 57,077.96 points. Last week, the benchmark of representative shares hit an all-time high and crossed 57,000 points on the back of the staff-level …

Earlier this month, the government of Punjab declared a smog emergency. A few days later, the Lahore High Court ordered school and office closures twice a week to mitigate smog in the largest city of Punjab. According to a 2018 study, air pollution comes from vehicular emissions, industry and agriculture through crop burning. The electric vehicle revolution Globally, the electric …

Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar stated the obvious when she stressed that Pakistan will remain dependent on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for some time. Still, it is better than empty promises of never going to the IMF again, though those sweet nothings are expected from those who wish to be elected rather than the caretaker setup. Pakistan’s debt has …

Despite the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development energy watchdog, continuing to emphasise, and in no uncertain terms, that the era of oil demand growth is coming to an end, what is making Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi petroleum minister, so ebullient and convinced that the global crude demand will continue to grow in …

The highly anticipated summit between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden adjacent to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco last week was focused on repairing their fraught bilateral ties but is largely expected to have “significant global consequences”. The meeting came at the lowest point in their 50-year-old relations and is, therefore, being seen as a breakthrough in …

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Pakistan to revive its five-year development planning, get climate-sensitive public investment management plans working and publish criteria for project appraisals for transparency to attract global climate financing. The IMF’s guidance comes immediately after the two sides reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of a $3 billion bailout, followed by a public announcement …

KARACHI: The stock market remained bullish in the outgoing week as its benchmark index hit another all-time high of 57,397 points. Arif Habib Ltd said the shares market maintained its bullish trend on the back of the staff-level agreement reached between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The signing of the staff-level agreement paves the way for the disbursement …

ISLAMABAD: The export of raw food products recorded an upsurge of almost 60 per cent in October compelling domestic consumers to pay higher prices. These unchecked exports pushed the food inflation to a staggering 29pc in October as prices skyrocketed affecting accessibility to essential commodities, particularly wheat flour, rice, sugar, meat and vegetables. Food exports grew 30.29 per cent in …