Business

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistanis remit $12.77bn during the seven months of the current fiscal year up 12 per cent from the $11.38bn received during the same period last year, reported the State Bank of Pakistan on Monday. Major growth was witnessed in the inflows from the US and the UK at 33pc and 22.5pc respectively; however, Saudi Arabia emerged as the …

Pakistan’s trade deficit plunged by 9.66 per cent to $19.26 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal, as compared to the same period last year. Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday showed the trade deficit contracted by over $2 billion to $19.264 billion in the July-January period of 2018-19 against a deficit …

ISLAMABAD: As the government investigates gas price hike controversy, a serious shortage has hit the country with delay in the berthing of Q-flex cargo of Pakistan State Oil (PSO), affecting almost all sectors of economy. “The situation is very serious. Gas supply to power plants, fertiliser plants, general industry and CNG sectors has already been curtailed and SNGPL is struggling …

WASHINGTON: US negotiators are preparing to press China next week on longstanding demands that it reform how it treats American companies’ intellectual property in order to seal a trade deal that could prevent tariffs from rising on Chinese imports. A new round of trade talks begins in Beijing on Monday, after the most recent set of negotiations concluded in Washington …

PARIS: It was fear of being dominated by a Chinese behemoth that sparked an attempt by large French and German rail companies to join forces to create an European industrial champion. The merger by Alstom and Siemens was vetoed by the EU on Thursday, but concerns about the overwhelming power of vast, often state-backed Chinese companies is not limited to …

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCCI) on Saturday demanded the government to simplify tax system in order to facilitate business growth and augment tax revenues. The ICCI organised a pre-budget consultative session to seek budget proposals from the local business community. The members acknowledged that tax rates in Pakistan were relatively high and need to be rationalised to …

KARACHI: The five-weekly winning streak came to an end with the KSE-100 index ceding 225 points (0.55 per cent) and closing at 40,887 as investors took to profit-booking. Building on the month-long bullish momentum which saw the market gain a splendid 11pc, the outgoing week started on a positive note with index adding another 502 points in the first trading …

KARACHI: The banks’ disbursement for agricultural credit during the first half of this fiscal year remained below the target but surpassed the 1HFY18 level, said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Saturday. In the first half of 2018-19, banks disbursed Rs527.3 billion, which is 42.2 per cent of the total target for FY19 and 22pc higher than the disbursement …

BRUSSELS: Euro­pean Union nations backed a plan to regulate Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline on Friday, a move that will likely slow but not rule out its construction. The long-stalled agreement comes after a last-ditch German and French push to amend the draft and give Berlin a greater say in how to ensure the pipeline to carry Russian gas to …

ADDIS ABABA: Persisting trade tensions between economic superpowers the United States and China could shave 0.7 per cent from Africa’s GDP in 2019, a senior official at the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Friday. Hanan Morsy, director of the AfDB’s macroeconomic policy department, made the prediction on the sidelines of an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa as fresh …