With inflation cooling, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) hit pause on its multiple rounds of monetary easing that might have risked destabilising its currency or worsening the trade deficit. Economists said the government should shift its focus to implementing economic reforms as interest rate cuts are not the elixir for growth, after the central bank on Monday unexpectedly kept interest rates
THE last few years have seen a slow expansion of social assistance programmes in Pakistan. Among mainstream political parties, the PPP claims to embrace such programmes as a policy measure. In 2008, the PPP-led federal government introduced the first targeted cash transfer programme, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). In its 2024 election manifesto, the PPP promised to introduce addit
US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose 200 per cent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from European Union countries, in retaliation against the bloc’s planned levies on US-produced whiskey. Trump has launched trade wars against competitors and partners alike since taking office, wielding tariffs as a tool to pressure countries on commerce and other pol
Amid worsening economic struggles confronting Pakistan, yuan-denominated financial instruments are likely to offer opportunities to the country to restructure its debt and drive green infrastructure initiatives. This was the crux of a high-level webinar, Panda Bonds: Mobilising Sustainable Investments for Pakistan’s Renewable Energy Future, on Thursday. It was organised by the Sustainable Devel
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $152 million to $11.097 billion due to external debt repayments during the week ended March 7, announced the central bank on Thursday. The reserves declined despite SBP’s large-scale buying of dollars from the banking market, reflecting the pressure of external debt repayments.The country’s total liquid foreign