Notwithstanding the full-page ads to mark the successive commissioning of 2,400-megawatt coal power plants in Thar, the state-backed sole electricity buyer is unable to despatch more than 75 per cent of the aggregate capacity. Only 1,800MW of the 2,400MW Thar power plants can be evacuated at any given time owing to transmission constraints. Delays in the construction of the second transmission
President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday signed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, generally known as the mini-budget, as the government rushed to fulfil the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions to unlock an economic bailout that the country needs to avoid the risk of default. The Prime Minister Secretariat sent the bill to the President Secretariat on Wednesday evening for assent, two
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank rose by $66 million to $3.258 billion in the week ending February 17, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. The SBP said total liquid foreign reserves stood at $8.726 billion. Pakistan, which is a $350bn economy, is facing economic turmoil, with a balance of payment crisis and only enough foreign exchange reserves to
An interest rate hike of around 200 basis points by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is highly likely, financial market experts say, after the recent treasury bill auction rates saw a similar increase. While the unexpected rate jump in the government auction to raise domestic debt surprised the trade and industry, the investors in the treasury bills found the situation suitable due to over 27 p
Stocks extended their overnight gains on Wednesday as the benchmark index of representative shares traded on the higher side throughout the session. Arif Habib Ltd said the upswing was because of the expected signing of a staff-level agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the ninth tranche of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility. Volumes increas