Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed an agreement to provide $200 million support to the country’s ailing power distribution system through network improvement. The ADB board of directors approved the loan on Dec 10 to initially support three power distribution companies of Lahore, Multan and Sukkur — Lesco, Mepco and Sepco — through advanced metering infrastructure,
The Federal Board of Revenue missed its revenue collection target by nearly Rs386 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, as a decline in imports and lower-than-expected inflation impacted tax receipts. According to provisional figures released on Tuesday, FBR collected Rs5.623 trillion between July and December against the target of Rs6.009tr. However, the collectio
Bulls decided to take control of the trade floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as shares gained more than 3,900 points on investors’ expectations of the key interest rate reaching single digits in the near future. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 3,678.20, or 3.30 per cent, to stand at 115,029.37 from the previous close of 111,351.17 at 3:09pm. Finally, the index closed a
BEFORE discussing how banks became irrelevant to the economy, it is better to review their penchant for making profits and little or no contribution to economic progress. For the last three years, banks have been only a profit-making sector and contributed little to the country’s economic growth. There are several reasons for the dismal performance. A high interest rate of 22 per cent during th
FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has called upon “stakeholders” to evolve a broader consensus on key economic issues facing the country to ensure sustainable stability and growth. Talking to the media over the weekend, he said “everyone” should join hands in the national interest and agree on a common “charter of economy”. He did not elaborate who exactly he was addressing but seemed to want