News

Steel bar prices surge on rising production cost

Just two days before a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar on Thursday, manufacturers have further raised steel bar prices by Rs3,000-4,000 per tonne to offset rising cost of production. A dealer at Sarya Market behind Civil Hospital quoted the price of Amreli steel bars in the southern region at Rs276,500 for size 9.5/10mm and 12mm, and Rs274,500 for sizes 16mm and above.

Bad news for big economies as UK, Japan slide into recession

Two major world economies — Japan and the UK — have fallen into a recession in the second half of 2023. While Japan’s ‘unexpected fall comes off the back of a contracting gross domestic product (GDP) — its economy also shrank by 3.3pc in the previous quarter, the UK’s decline comes ahead of this year’s expected election for PM Rishi Sunak, who has promised to boost growth. The figures from J

Regulator slashes RLNG prices for February

With system losses touching a massive 14.5 per cent, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Thursday notified up to 9pc reduction in the sale price of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) for SSGCL and SNGPL for the current month, effective Feb 1, owing to lower international prices. This is the second month in a row that RLNG prices have declined. The price had dropped by 8pc after

Cabinet okays up to 67pc hike in gas tariff

The federal cabinet on Thursday approved a 67 per cent increase in the natural gas tariff with effect from Feb 1, apparently to meet the revenue requirement of the gas utilities targeted for the current year. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the cabinet meeting presided over by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar approved all decisions of the Economic Coordination Committ

IMF’s liberal import plan may imperil stable rupee

The latest proposal of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to further liberalise imports could destabilise rupee-dollar parity, said market sources. “The IMF wants to see up to 45 per cent increase in the imports in the second half of the current fiscal year which would surely put pressure on the exchange rate,” a well-informed senior banker told Dawn on Thursday. He said the IMF has draft