Distributive politics is at the core of Pakistan’s electoral system, where the ‘electability’ of an individual politician is believed to largely depend on their ability to secure resources to fund ‘development schemes’ or public services in their respective constituencies once the voters return them to the assemblies. No wonder the ruling parties allocate state resources, especially the annual
Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates on Monday signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) pertaining to investment cooperation that will unlock “multi-billion dollars” in funding from the Mideast state. The development came in a meeting between caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi during the former’s week-long trip to the
Oil prices fell on Monday, with the Brent benchmark hovering around $80 a barrel as investors awaited this week’s Opec+ meeting and expected curbs on supplies into 2024. Brent crude futures were down 37 cents, or 0.4pc, at $80.21 a barrel by 11:33 a.m. ET (1633 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 29 cents, or 0.4pc, to $75.25. Both contracts lost $1 in early trading.
The rupee’s struggle to remain strong could not succeed for the third consecutive session, and the dollar appreciated by 27 paise in the interbank market on Monday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported the closing price of the dollar at Rs285.64, compared to Rs285.37 the day before, leaving market experts undecided about the future of PKR in the coming days or weeks. Currency dealers we
Driven by higher shipments to China, the exports to nine regional countries witnessed a year-on-year growth of 14.3 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal year, showed data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday. The country’s exports to Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives rose to $1.443 billion in July-Octo