News

Minister hints at PIA privatisation with zero liability

Federal Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has hinted at selling Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a private buyer with zero liabilities. While addressing a press conference on Sunday, the minister also welcomed provincial governments to take over the airline’s control and run it in a professional manner. He said that, as per the existing framework, around Rs600 billion of PIA’s

Stocks snap 7-day winning streak on profit-taking

The stock market on Wednesday witnessed a rollercoaster session as the benchmark KSE 100 index witnessed wild fluctuations. Howe­ver, bears outnumbered bulls, ending the seven-session winning streak and pushing the index into negative territory. Initially, the index surged 1,008.54 points, hitting an intraday high of 91,872.63, but bears ente­red the market, pulling the index down by 860.78 poi

Chasing investment

THERE is something about private investment that successive governments in Pakistan have failed to understand. Promoting private investment is a bit like catching a bird. You cannot chase after it because that makes it nervous and it most likely will fly away. You have to lay out what it seeks then wait for it to come. For the third time this year, our government has gone running to another

Govt cuts T-bill rates by 140bps

The government slashed the rate of treasury bills by up to 140 basis points on Wednesday in an auction held days before announcement of the mone­tary policy, reflecting the State Bank’s approach towards interest rates. On the other hand, commercial banks participated in the auction with a huge amount of Rs2.188 trillion, but the government was able to raise only Rs820 billion. It was twice the

Pakistan exports tractors to Tanzania

The first consignment of Pakistani-made tractors reached Tanzania on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone in the country’s trade relations with East Africa. An official announcement of the commerce ministry said that Masai Trekta Company Ltd, having recently opened its tractor distribution head office in Tanzania, has become a key partner in distributing Pakistani ATS tractors across Tanz