ACCORDING to economist Julian Simon, “the ultimate resource is people — especially skilled, spirited, and hopeful young people endowed with liberty — who will exert their wills and imaginations for their own benefits, and so inevitably they will benefit the rest of us as well”. How does a nation ensure that its people will be skilled and spirited? It must educate its people to endow them with v
MCB Bank Ltd said on Wednesday its earnings for July-September clocked in at Rs19.6 billion, up 112 per cent from a year ago. The jump in profitability was due to improved total income, according to Arif Habib Ltd. The bank’s bottom line expanded 34pc on a quarter-on-quarter basis. It also announced a dividend of Rs8 per share, which takes the total dividend paid so far in 2023 to Rs21 per s
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at its meeting on Thursday, bringing an end to a series of hikes that started in July last year. Policymakers had raised rates at each of their last 10 meetings as they sought to rein in soaring inflation driven in large part by surging energy prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But ebbing price pressures and signs of we
Turkiye’s central bank sharply lifted its policy rate for the fifth month running on Thursday as part of its politically charged battle against historically high inflation rates. The bank said it was taking its main lending rate to 35 per cent from 30pc because “inflation readings were above expectations” over the past three months. Its statement also retained a pledge to raise rates further
Oil prices fell more $2 a barrel on Thursday as fears of a wider Middle East conflict eased at the same time that US demand showed signs of weakening. Brent crude futures were down $2.28, or 2.53 per cent, at $87.85 a barrel by 12:40pm CDT (1740 GMT), having settled nearly 2pc higher on Wednesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slid by $2.10, or 2.41pc, to $83.29 a barrel. Fears of