News

Qamar eyes $5bn pharma exports by 2030

Comm­erce Minister Syed Nav­eed Qamar on Wed­nesday stressed the need for collective efforts to enhance pharmaceutical exports to over $5 billion by 2030. Speaking at the sixth Pakistan Pharma Summit and Pharma Export Sum­mit and Awards (PESA) 2023, the minister outlined the government’s plans to significantly increase pharmaceutical exports. The event, organised by the Pakistan Pharm­aceuti

After Saudi inflow, UAE deposits $1bn with SBP

Pakistan received a much-needed inflow of $1 billion from the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, hours before the formal approval of the $3 billion nine-month Stand-By Arrangement by the executive board of the International Monetary Fund. The UAE, our brotherly country and friend has deposited $1bn into the State Bank of Pakistan’s account,” Finance Minister Ishq Dar announced in a video messag

IMF board green-lights long-awaited $3bn loan

The Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday that its executive board had approved a $3 billion loan agreement for Pakistan, unlocking crucial funding for the troubled economy. In a statement, the IMF said its executive board green-lit the nine-month standby arrangement (SBA) in order “to support the authorities’ economic stabilisation programme”. This follows a staff-level agree

Global public debt surges to record $92tr: UN report

Global public debt surged to a record $92 trillion in 2022 as governments borrowed to counter crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, with the burden being felt acutely by developing countries, a United Nations report said. Domestic and external debt worldwide has increased more than five times in the last two decades, outstripping the rate of economic growth, with gross domestic product only tr

Offshore owners move to get direct control of K-Electric

Infighting among the ultimate owners of K-Electric Ltd led one group of investors to announce on Wednesday that it wants to wind up a Cayman Islands-based company to establish a direct shareholding in Karachi’s only power utility. In a densely worded statement, IGCF SPV21 Ltd said it had filed a petition in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands for a “just and equitable winding up” of the holdi