Pakistan’s trade deficit with nine neighbouring countries widened by 34.64 per cent, reaching $9.787 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year (FY25), compared to $7.269 billion during the same period last year. Exports witnessed significant growth to Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, spurred by recent changes in the regional political landscape. However, trade with these
The government on Wednesday announced establishing a Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) to regulate and accelerate the Virtual Asset Economy compliant with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) safeguards. In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said it was initiating a comprehensive strategy to regulate digital assets and accelerate the growth of Pakistan’s virtual asset economy. On t
Seeking effective and practical steps for the realisation of agriculture income tax and improvements in retail sector taxation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has yet to take a position on Pakistan’s request for relief measures in the upcoming budget, due on June 2. The authorities, however, have committed to meeting any revenue shortfall through reduced expenditure in the Public Sector
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faltered on Tuesday on economic concerns after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attached new performance benchmarks to the current $7bn Extended Fund Facility, which dented bullish sentiments and bears dragged the benchmark KSE 100 index below 119,000-barrier on nervous selling by jittery investors. Topline Securities Ltd said the stock market remained v
Amid falling lending costs, auto financing increased by 2 per cent month-on-month and 12pc year-on-year to Rs263 billion in April. This was the fifth straight monthly rise. However, auto financing remains 28pc below its peak of Rs368bn in June 2022, observed Topline Securities Chief Executive Mohammed Sohail. The benchmark interest rate stands at 11pc after staying at an unprecedented level