Over the last few years, Pakistan’s banking has reaped massive profits on the back of the sovereign’s ever-growing fiscal needs. In the process, it has drawn the ire of everyone, including the International Monetary Fund in the latest Article IV report, for depending on the government. However, one area where the sector seems to have done well, at least in relative terms, is in digitalisation a
The stock market ended its six-session winning streak on Thursday as investors engaged in profit-taking towards the end of the session following the government’s termination of power purchase contracts with some Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Ahsan Mehanti Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed under pressure amid concerns for pre-mature termination of contracts with IPPs on tariff issu
IT is odd that the government has recruited former State Bank governor Reza Baqir as a consultant to work on building its Sovereign Wealth Fund. Baqir has little experience building organisations. Besides, his tenure at the State Bank has left a legion of unanswered questions. Baqir entered the State Bank amid high inflation and an abrupt change of guard at the finance ministry, when Asad Umar
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed 27 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth $2.2 billion in various sectors on Thursday. Last night, a high-powered Saudi delegation led by its Minister for Investment Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh arrived in Islamabad on a three-day official visit. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Al Faleh and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir witnessed th
Saudi Minister for Investment Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh on Thursday confirmed that the kingdom’s Manara Minerals was set to buy a stake in Barrick Gold’s Reko Diq gold and copper mine in the coming weeks. Barrick Gold owns a 50 per cent stake in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine, with the remaining 50pc owned by the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan. Barrick consider