THE current wave of floods has ravaged vast tracts of farmland across the plains of central Punjab. Hundreds of thousands of mostly smallholders have been displaced, with floodwaters sweeping away their food and other crops. More agricultural land will be swallowed by the raging waters, surging southwards to converge with the Indus in the coming days. A major economic upheaval is already eme
The government on Sunday said it had retired about Rs1.133tr debt to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), taking advantage of the central bank’s record profits driven by the highest interest rates in the country’s history. “On August 29, 2025, the Debt Management Office (of the Ministry of Finance) executed another monumental repayment of Rs1.133 trillion,” the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said in a
The Finance Division announced on Sunday night that petrol price will remain unchanged, while the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) will be reduced by Rs3 per litre for the next fortnight. Petrol, used mainly in private cars, small vehicles, rickshaws and motorcycles, directly impacts the budgets of middle- and lower-middle-income groups. Most of the transport sector runs on HSD and its price
The Oil and Gas Regulatory (Ogra) on Sunday notified the new price of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) at Rs214.19 per kilogramme for the month of September, according to a notification available with Dawn.com. Last month, the price of LPG was set at Rs215.37 per kg for August, down from Rs233.10 in July — a decrease of Rs17.73 per kg. Consequently, the price of an 11.8kg domestic cylinder was fix
Unrelenting monsoon rain spells have continued to wreak havoc on Punjab’s agriculture, with the latest spell on Saturday further straining the province’s rural economy. While the rainfall varied in intensity, some areas, such as Mandi Bahaudin, recorded 81mm of rain, and Bahawalnagar 44mm. Hafizabad received 63mm, Gujrat 34mm, and Okara and Sahiwal both recorded 10mm. These rains, coming just d