The dollar remained unchanged at Rs227.75 on Saturday in the open market, unmoved by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s guarantee a day ago that the country had secured about $13 billion in additional financial support from two friendly countries, on top of assurances for about $20bn investments. However, dealers in the open market hoped the rupee would gain strength once the inflows began to land in
Twitter on Saturday updated its app in Apple's App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, in Elon Musk’s first major revision of the social media platform. The change comes a week after Musk took over the social media company in a $44 billion deal. The billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of electric car maker Tesla (TSLA.O) cut half the staff at Twitter and h
The proceedings and recent remarks of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan in the Reko Diq case have not inspired confidence in investors. They are hoping for more informed proceedings and a meritorious decision that serves development goals and projects Pakistan as a viable business destination. Some former bureaucrats and economists advised the court to be mindful of the interests and aspiratio
Over the past two decades, Pakistani banking has undergone drastic shifts. There were the good days when foreign banks could be spotted every few kilometres in the major cities, and consumer financing was all the craze. Then came the bad days and, with them, the defaults. Global players pulled out, and everyone flocked to lending to the sovereign. Amid these cycles, however, one trend had conti
After 18 years of deliberations and nineteen rounds of negotiations, Pakistan recently signed a preferential trade agreement with Turkey. Both sides have expressed optimism that with increased market access, bilateral trade will rise to $5 billion in the medium term from the current trade volume of fewer than one billion dollars. However, with the low ambition of the agreement, much will likely