Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) surged by $853 million during the week ended on Dec 22. The central bank reported on Thursday that its forex holdings increased to $7.757bn from $6.9bn on Dec 15. However, the SBP did not provide details about the inflows, only saying that it was the receipt of official Government of Pakistan inflows. However, sources in the fin
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has asked the Employees’ Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) to devise a comprehensive plan to clear the Rs2 trillion dues of pensioners. The decision was made during the ECC meeting, which was presided over by Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, which approved the budget for the EOBI. EOBI Chairperson Ms Naheed Durrani gave a c
A day after witnessing the biggest day-on-day decline in the benchmark of major shares, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark index returned to trading in the green on Wednesday. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index gained 1692.65, or 2.86 per cent, to stand at 60,863.62 from the previous close of 59,170.97, effectively halting the bearish momentum that had continued througho
THE country is flying into a new year on the back of a weakly mandated government, a promise to hold elections, and mounting uncertainty from within and without. The year 2024 is when a new window of opportunity will open to reckon with all the ailments that brought us to this pass. But for that to happen, an elected government needs to enter, on time, and without the allegations of rigging tha
It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of all that ails Pakistan. 2023 was essentially a year where crises across the political, economic, and security domains coalesced in a way that few could have imagined. And while the near- and long-term implications of the collapse post-2008 democratic order are yet to fully play out, the economic crisis has reached a point where even urban uppe