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India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp plans $11bn refinery

India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) plans to invest $11 billion in southern Andhra Pradesh state for a new refinery and petrochemical project to meet rising fuel demand in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, its chairman said. “We feel there is a big opportunity in refining sector. India’s primary energy demand itself is also going to increase three to four times as its economy expands,

Turkiye cuts interest rate to 47.5pc

Turkiye’s central bank lowered its key interest rate on Thu­r­sday, the first cut in nearly two years as it battles with double-digit inflation. The bank’s monetary policy committee decided to reduce the policy rate from 50 per cent to 47.5pc, with a statement citing improvement in “inflation expectations and pricing behaviour”. The last cut was in February 2023.Thursday’s decision signals t

SBP reserves fall by $228m

After witnessing a consistent increase for several weeks, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign exchange reserves noted an outflow of $228 million to $11.85 billion during the week ended on Dec 20. On Thursday, the central bank announced that the reserves fell due to external debt payments. The country is required to repay $26.1bn during the current fiscal year. The government has partial

Senate body okays draft law to curb tax evasion

As a Senate body approved the tax amendment bill on Thursday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced that it had issued notices to some 169,000 influential individuals to bring them into the tax net, warning that more such people would be traced as the country move to digitise its tax process. The Tax Amendment Bill 2024, cleared by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, is

‘Low inflation’ claims fall flat as citizens feel the pinch

MOHAMMAD Altaf is not convinced by the government’s claim that inflation is declining; the daily wage labourer insists that a mere decline in flour prices cannot be termed relief when the prices of other essentials have spiralled out of control. Altaf, who hails from Nathiagali, a hill station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been selling vegetables on his pushcart in Karachi for the past 25 years. H