News

Rupee extends losses vs dollar

The rupee’s struggle to remain strong could not succeed for the third consecutive session, and the dollar appreciated by 27 paise in the interbank market on Monday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported the closing price of the dollar at Rs285.64, compared to Rs285.37 the day before, leaving market experts undecided about the future of PKR in the coming days or weeks. Currency dealers we

Regional exports grow 14pc

Driven by higher shipments to China, the exports to nine regional countries witnessed a year-on-year growth of 14.3 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal year, showed data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday. The country’s exports to Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives rose to $1.443 billion in July-Octo

Islamic banks brace for minimum deposit rate

Share prices of Islamic banks took a beating on Monday, thanks to Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar’s recent statement that customers are getting short-changed by Sharia-compliant lenders by way of insufficient returns on deposits. Speaking to a TV host, Dr Akhtar said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should review the issue of minimum deposit rate (MDR) — a provision that Islamic banks are c

Pakistan LNG awards tender to OQ Trading

State-run Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) on Monday awarded a contract to OQ Trading —an Oman subsidy — to deliver an LNG cargo in the second week of January at a post-bidding negotiated price of $17.95 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) to minimise peak winter gas shortage. Earlier, the PLL had received four international bids against its urgent tender. OQ Trading was the lowest at $18.46 per uni

Wapda to double hydro-generation

With the completion of eight under-construction water and hydropower projects, the carryover water capacity of the country will increase from 30 days to 45 days with an addition of 9.7 million acre-feet water storage and hydel power generation will be doubled to 18,000MW with an increase of 9,043MW. This was briefed to a delegation of PAF Air War College Karachi during their visit to Wapda Hous