Business

ISLAMABAD: In a strategic move to boost the country’s exports, the Ministry of Commerce has established two powerful export advisory councils to devise a strategy for the promotion of textile and non-textile products. The councils will be tasked with developing sector-specific strategies to increase export volumes, according to two notifications issued by the commerce ministry on Wednesday. These councils are …

ISLAMABAD: Discre­tionary spending by parliamentarians under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Pro­gramme (SAP) accounted for more than a third of the total federal development expenditure in the first four months of the fiscal year, official data showed on Wednesday. The disproportionate funding towards parliamentarians’ schemes under SAP, whose discretionary funds are considered a tool to muster political support, continues despite …

The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its bullish run on Thursday and stayed above the 58,000 level. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index recorded steady gains throughout the day before finally closing at 58,899.84 points, up 701.08 or 1.2 per cent from the previous close of 58,198.76 points. Maintaining its bullish streak from the preceding …

KARACHI: With an increase in inflows in the open market, exchange companies sold around $150 million to banks in the 13 working days of November and hoped to sell another $150m in the remaining days of the month. “We have sold about $150m to banks during the 13 working days of the current month against $350m sold in October,” said …

KARACHI: Lucky Cement Ltd has completed a second share buyback exercise representing 6.5 per cent of its paid-up capital at spot prices, the company said on Tuesday. According to data compiled by Arif Habib Ltd, the cement maker’s average purchase price was Rs632.60 per share for 20.375 million shares that it bought between June 2 and Nov 20. As a …

ISLAMABAD: In a significant development for the seafood industry, Pakistan has successfully secured a two-year extension until Dec 31, 2025 to continue the commercial export of fish and fish products to the United States. This decision by the US administration exempts Pakistan from adhering to the standards outlined in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 2016, according to an …

ISLAMABAD: Amid struggling project implementation and calls for more transparency by multilateral and bilateral lenders, the caretaker government on Tuesday made a pitch for additional international financial support, particularly those relating to ‘debt for nature and debt for social development swaps’ to help Pakistan meet climate finance targets. The appeal for additional financial support was made by Caretaker Finance Minister …

The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday surged over 700 points during intraday trade and surpassed the 58,000-level. According to the PSX website, KSE-100 index was trading at 58,129.92 points at 12:40pm, up 758.34 or 1.46 per cent from the previous close of 57,371.58 points. Last week, the benchmark of representative shares hit an all-time high and crossed 57,000 …

KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) has made a gas and condensate discovery from exploration well Jhim East X-1, in Block 2467-16 (Shah Bandar), located in District Sujawal, Sindh. This is the second discovery in the Shah Bandar Block. Block 2467-16 Exploration Licence is operated by the PPL with 63 per cent working interest along with joint venture partners Mari Petroleum …

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is tentatively scheduled for Dec 7 to approve the Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with Pakistan for the first review of the $3bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) leading to disbursement of about $700 million on Dec 8. The IMF staff and the Pakistani authorities reached the SLA on Nov 15 in Islamabad, according to an end-of-mission statement. …