Reluctant to publicly disclose the names of the 620 beneficiaries who received a $3 billion ‘soft loan’ disbursed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government during the Covid-19 pandemic, the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that he would prefer to share details with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in an in-camera meeting. The PAC, which convened on Wednesday, was informed t
The export potential of the country’s defence production sector would be explored under a newly formed government body aimed at providing a single-window interface to potential investors, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday. “We have really good infrastructure [of defence production] … and we see the potential of export here,” he said, adding that by initiating exports in this secto
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed the hope that the $3 billion short-term bailout for the country would be given final approval by the International Monetary Fund board when it meets on July 12 and vowed to fulfil all commitments made to the lender. Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad to commemorate 10 years of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the premier poi
KARACHI; The domestic debt of the central government increased by Rs6 trillion in the first 11 months of the outgoing FY23. Data issued on Wednesday by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed that the PMLN-led government heavily relied upon borrowing to bridge the gap between its high spending and low revenues. According to the SBP data, the domestic debt of the central government rose to
Investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange booked profits on Tuesday following a historic bull run a day ago. Topline Securities said the stock market saw some buying in the early trading hours. However, investors opted to offload some of their positions, which led to the KSE-100 index losing some ground. In fact, profit-taking pulled the representative index down to the negative territory, it ad