Federal Minister for National Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema on Thursday categorically declared on the floor of the National Assembly that he would not allow the export of sugar without proper verification, stating that he was ready to surrender his responsibilities as head of the Sugar Advisory Board if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif could not sustain the pressure from sugar mill owners. The
The telecom industry is divided over the launch of 5G network services in the country next year, with one mobile service provider willing for the upgrade while the other three wondering how the industry can commit more investments “when its very survival is at stake”. IT Minister Syed Aminul Haque has met the heads of four mobile cellular companies over the past two days. He called on Jazz,
Most experts believe the central bank will leave the interest rate unchanged at 15 per cent in its next monetary policy meeting scheduled for Nov 25, a survey showed on Thursday. According to the survey, conducted by brokerage house Topline Research, 79 per cent of the participants expects no change in the policy rate in the upcoming monetary policy. Besides, around 16pc participants think the
The government has increased the markup on development loans and advances to the provincial, local bodies, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and public sector financial institutions by almost one percentage point for the previous fiscal year, which ended on June 30. In a notification issued on Thursday, the finance ministry has fixed the markup rate for the 2021-22 fiscal year at 11.2 per cent, up
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had another round of engagement on Thursday but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme amid a lack of clarity on flood-related financial requirements for this fiscal year and declining revenue stream in the wake of import controls. “Dates for the ninth review could not be finali