Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin on Wednesday agreed to pursue robust dialogue and cooperation in areas of trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education. The agreement was reached as the two leaders had a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House, at the margins of the 23rd SCO summit in Islamabad. The two prime ministers d
Structural impediments are challenges to sustaining macroeconomic stability, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s annual report on the state of the economy said on Thursday. “Falling investment … unfavourable business environment, lack of research and development, and low productivity, alongside climate change risks continue to constrain the economy’s growth potential,” the SBP said in a statemen
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $215 million to $11.022 billion during the week ended on Oct 11, reaching the highest level since FY21. In its announcement on Thursday, the central bank did not disclose the source of this inflow, but the market considers that the SBP has been buying dollars from the banking market. The government has projected to boo
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has deferred the condition of submitting an affidavit together with the sales tax return for one month to address exporters’ concerns. As per the decision, affidavits will not be required for returns filing for the tax period of September to be filed this month. The decision came after the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and other lead
The Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector contracted 2.65 per cent year-on-year in August, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The LSM enters a negative growth following a positive growth of 2.38pc in July. The LSM has grown positively for the last six months since December 2023 before entering negative territory in June. In FY24, the LSM witnessed a ne