News

Opec+ delays oil output hike for two months

Opec+ has agreed to delay a planned oil output increase for October and November, the producers group said on Thursday after crude prices hit their lowest in nine months, adding that it could further pause or reverse the hikes if needed. Oil prices have been falling along with other asset classes on concerns about a weak global economy and soft data from China, the world’s biggest oil importer.

Tax procedures for property deals notified

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified procedures for developers and builders to collect and pay duty on allotments and transfers of property. The FBR has also issued the Computerised Payment Receipt (CPR-FE) for payment of Federal Excise Duty (FED) through a notification SRO1376 of 2024 issued on Thursday. The amendments were made to the Federal Excise Rules 2005. Through the notif

Cement demand tumbles on high prices, construction slowdown

Due to tax-driven price increases and a construction slowdown during the monsoon season, local cement sales plunged by 27.54 per cent year-on-year to 2.752 million tonnes in August. Cement exports also fell 16pc to Rs613,857 tonnes compared to 730,755 tonnes in August 2023. As a result, overall cement despatches (local sales and exports) tumbled by 26pc to 3.366m tonnes from 4.528m tonnes in

Stocks rally on rate cut, IMF deal hopes

Despite aggressive selling pressure from all segments, barring individuals, the stock market on Wednesday remained in the bullish mind of frame amid growing optimism of an interest rate cut and the finance minister’s assertion that the economy was on the right direction and set to achieve stability with the IMF loan. Value hunting by individuals helped the index stage a robust rally. Ahsan Meha

Fragile stability

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has once again contended that ‘Pakistan is heading in the right direction’, conceding the urgency of securing external financing for the approval of its $7bn bailout package by the IMF executive board. His recorded address was broadcast amid further delays in the approval of the facility by the board, at least until the middle of this month, because of the co