It is hard to recall the last time when Pakistan mounted three abortive attempts to restart one IMF programme in a single year. This was the year it all fell apart — the “hybrid experiment” and the growth bubble it spawned, as well as the joyous triumph with which the PDM government swore itself into power. The whole year Pakistan spent trying desperately to avert default and manage crippling shor
Amid a revenue setback in December and higher expenditure, mostly for debt servicing, the government plans to borrow a record Rs4.8 trillion in the first three months of 2023 through market treasury bills (MTBs). According to the auction target calendar issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on New Year’s Eve on Saturday, it will hold a total of seven auctions beginning Jan 3 (tomorrow) — a
Pakistan’s equities, treasury bills and bonds could attract a meagre sum of $112.9 million against a much higher outflow of $187m during the first half of the current fiscal year. The persisting political and economic instability was a key reason for this higher outflow as foreigners seemed least interested to invest even in high-return Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs). The State Bank of Pak
JDW Sugar Mills Ltd said on Monday it completed the buyback of two million shares for ultimate cancellation in less than two months of initiating the exercise. The sugarcane processor started purchasing over one-fifth of the company’s free float — which is the shareholding that’s in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by sponsors — in small chunks on Nov 11 at the
As all official imports of raw materials and finished goods are made on prevailing interbank dollar rates, consumers are forced to pay higher prices for gold and its related products as daily bullion rates are calculated on higher open market exchange rates. More surprisingly, official gold imports have been suspended for the last many years as claimed by bullion traders due to the paucity of d