Punjab’s unplanned power subsidies have emerged as the second most significant impediment to Pakistan’s much-anticipated $7 billion bailout from the Intentional Monetary Fund (IMF). In July, Pakistan reached a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) for a new 37-month $7bn Extended Fund Facility. However, the agreement will take effect following the IMF Executive Board meeting, which has yet to be placed o
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday ended with thin gains as investors resorted to profit-taking at attractive levels following a spike in the KSE-100 index earlier in the day. The absence of encouraging developments kept investors cautious, leading to limited activity in major stocks while smaller companies attracted the interest of market players. The index opened on a positive note in
The idea that devaluations make a country's goods more "competitive" is pure gold to governments. Enhanced "competitiveness", in turn, is believed to increase exports and reduce imports, thereby improving the country's trade account, employment, balance of payments and domestic budget. Governments also believe that changing the value of their country's currency will, in some way, go unnoticed i
In its upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for Friday, September 12, Pakistan's central bank is widely anticipated to make a third consecutive cut in its key policy rate. The reduction, expected to be in the range of 1% to 1.5%, follows a decline in inflation to single digits in August and aims to support economic activity in the fiscal year 2024-25. There is potential for a larger cut g
Pakistan's economy is poised to enter a sustainable growth phase after achieving recent stability. This is evident as renowned global credit rating agencies, including Fitch and Moody's, upgraded Islamabad's credit rating in July and August. These upgrades acknowledge that Pakistan has navigated out of economic and financial dangers, averting a major risk of default on foreign debt repayments betw