News

Large-scale manufacturing shrinks for third month

Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) shrank 5.49 per cent in November 2022 over the same month last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. The big industry production contracted for the third consecutive month of the current fiscal year sending fears of major layoffs, especially in the textile sector. The contraction in industrial output indicates that e

Oil prices extend gains on optimism over China’s recovery

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s gains, driven by optimism that the lifting of China’s strict Covid-19 curbs will lead to a recovery in fuel demand in the world’s top oil importer. Brent crude futures firmed 63 cents, or 0.73 per cent, to $86.55 a barrel by 0401 GMT, following a 1.7pc rally in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures

Weakening rupee raises fears about economy

As the rupee continues to weaken faster than market expectations, doubts and fears are mounting over the country’s economic health, particularly its ability to pay the import bill for essential items in the coming weeks. The exchange rate has been primarily hit hard by a steep decline in the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves, which have shrunk to a near nine-year low of $4.34 billion.

PSX loses 602 points amid political uncertainty

Stock trading started on Monday with investors exhibiting negative sentiments for shares from a wide range of sectors. Arif Habib Ltd said share prices dropped and stayed in the red territory throughout the trading session owing to the prevailing political uproar. One of the four provincial assemblies stands dissolved while another provincial legislature is likely to be dissolved soon as part o

Finance: The deepening forex crisis

Pakistan remained in the grip of the foreign exchange crisis in 2022. Now, at the beginning of 2023, the situation has deepened further. On January 6, forex reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plunged to $4.343 billion, enough to cover just three weeks of imports, after the country repaid $1bn commercial loans of two UAE-based banks. Despite such a massive decline in the forex res