As its bullish spell entered the 20th session in a row, the rupee on Wednesday dragged the dollar below the psychological barrier of Rs285 in the interbank market. The currency experts were of the view that the local currency could hardly recover up to this level due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves amid low inflows and weak economic fundamentals. The State Bank of Pakistan reported th
Exports of services rose for the second month in a row reaching $600.03 million in August, up 2.34 per cent from $586.29m in the same month last year. The performance of the services sector was quite impressive given the continuous decline in exports of merchandise during the first three months of the current fiscal year after witnessing a contraction in FY23 as well, according to data compiled
The persistent political and economic instability has shaken the confidence of the private sector as its net debt retirement swelled to Rs258 billion during the first quarter of FY24 against a meagre Rs697 million in the corresponding period last year. Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday indicated an extremely slow participation of the private sector, which is conside
Oil prices settled down more than $5 on Wednesday as fuel demand destruction and a bleaker macroeconomic picture took centre stage in the day’s trade. Brent crude oil futures settled down 5.11, or 5.6 per cent, to $85.81 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell $5.01, or 5.6pc, to $84.22. At their session lows, both benchmarks were down by more than $5, and heating oil and
Pakistan’s domestic debt is estimated to have shot up by more than Rs7 trillion since January last year just because of an increase in the State Bank’s policy rate from less than 10 per cent to 22pc, a Senate panel was told on Wednesday. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance also sought separate reports from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) over Rs69bn