News

State Bank of Pakistan, United Nations join hands

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and UN Women Pakistan on Wednesday signed an MoU to promote women’s empowerment through increased financial inclusion, literacy, and access to finance. The collaboration aims to enhance gender equality by identifying barriers to women’s participation and expanding digital financial services in underserved areas. The two organisations will conduct joint semina

Gwadar port to be powered via solar energy in bid to enhance efficiency: minister

Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry on Wednesday announced that plans are underway to utilise solar energy to power Balochistan’s Gwadar port in a bid to improve its efficiency, a press release issued by his ministry said. Gwadar Port, built more than a decade ago, still remains a non-starter, prompting the federal government to speed up efforts aimed at the maximum utilisa

PSX loses 677 points on IMF concerns

The Pakis­tan Stock Exchange (PSX) took a dip on Monday, as investors opted to take profits amid growing concerns over the release of the third tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. The market saw a volatile session, with the benchmark KSE-100 index fluctuating sharply before closing down. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the bearish market performance to inst

Trump’s doubling of tariffs on Indian imports takes effect, hiking tensions

US President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on goods from India to as much as 50 per cent took effect as scheduled on Wednesday, escalating tensions between the world’s two largest democracies and strategic partners. A punitive 25pc tariff imposed due to India’s purchases of Russian oil adds to Trump’s prior 25pc tariff on many products from India. It takes total duties to as high as 50pc f

Govt approves Rs47bn petroleum levy recovery, Rs11bn PTV bailout

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a financial bailout for Pakistan Television (PTV), a recovery plan for Rs47 billion in outstanding petroleum levy from Cynergico Refinery, and the use of funds collected under the captive levy on gas to reduce electricity rates for all consumers. The committee also gave the green light to the construction of the Multan