Credit cards have failed to gain currency in Pakistan as they hold a meagre 4 per cent share in the overall card payment system due to the high-interest rates banks charge to users, mainly dominated by males. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its third quarterly (January-March) review of Payment Systems released on Monday, stated with 37.1 million debit cards are accounting for 76.7pc of the
The government has a “strategic plan” to promote Islamic finance, but banks and other financial institutions should not exploit the situation in the name of “Sharia compliance”. “We have a financial inclusion strategy that covers all the components needed to create Islamic financing, but the price has to be fair and competitive so that the first target of having Islamic finance products to rais
Pakistan’s international bonds continue to trade at a distressed level despite forceful statements by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar about the unlikelihood of a sovereign default. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the interest rate on the dollar debt issued by Pakistan is hovering between 30 and 40 percentage points above the US treasury bond of comparable duration. For context, the gap w
WFP, FAO report notes $77.5bn to be repaid over next three years • Political instability, lack of IMF deal to hit ability to import food ISLAMABAD: Acute food insecurity in Pakistan is likely to further exacerbate in coming months if the economic and political crisis further worsens, compounding the effects of the 2022 floods, warns a new United Nations report published on Monday. The repor
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains in touch with Pakistan’s authorities in order to pave the way for a board meeting before a financing programme expires at the end of June, the IMF mission chief for Pakistan said. Ordinarily, a board meeting on a review of the programme would require a prior staff-level agreement, which in Pakistan’s case would unlock $1.1 billion in financing for t