After a drop in both remittances and exports, foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 21 per cent in the 11 months through May, though inflows in May rose on both month-on-month and year-on-year bases. The State Bank’s data issued on Tuesday noted an FDI inflow of $149.6 million in May compared to $121.6m in April 2023 and $141.2m in May 2022. Due to prolonged political and economic uncertainti
Stock prices tumbled on Monday on negative macroeconomic triggers as the representative index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange dropped below the psychological level of 41,000 points. Topline Securities said the “bloodbath” was caused by selling headwinds after a gap of almost eight weeks. It attributed the selling spree to the calendar of the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board, which
The present government had informed the nation last year that it would borrow Rs843 billion from banks during FY23 ending this month. But between July 1, 2022, and June 2, 2023 (28 days before the close of the year), the federal government has already borrowed Rs3.176 trillion from banks. This not only crowded out the private sector and contributed to tanking of the economic growth from 6.1 per
Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistani workers and diaspora have the potential to increase to up to $50 billion if the money transfers through the illegal Hawala/Hundi operations are plugged. The money transfer market operators estimate the illicit global remittance trade size to be up to 80 per cent of the legitimate transactions of $700bn. “It means the actual global remittance market
Textile and clothing exports contracted by 14.72 per cent year-on-year to $15.03 billion during the first 11 months of the outgoing fiscal year. The decline in production is mainly attributable to a surge in the cost of production and a liquidity crunch, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. The export figures for May paint a bleak picture as they w