News

Punjab’s ‘power move’ riles political spectrum

A POWER move by the PML-N government in Punjab, apparently aimed at securing its support base in the most populous province, has put an already-fragile alliance in the Centre, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to the test. Besides the opposition PTI, the PPP and MQM-Pakistan — both of whom are PML-N’s partners in the federal government — have also questioned the rationale behind such a move

Situationer: The ‘sunk cost’ of doing e-business

NAVEED Qamar runs an online company, which works on resource augmentation models in the media industry. His company has been hired by foreign service providers, who take on business clients and outsource their work to Pakistan. On August 14, he shared a client’s email on his Facebook profile, in which he was told that his services were no longer required. The reason: delays in delivering edited

Pakistan hoping for $7bn IMF package approval in September: finance minister

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday the federal government is making good progress with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and hopes to get board approval in September for a new $7 billion loan programme. The government and the IMF reached an agreement on the 37-month loan programme in July. The IMF said the programme was subject to approval from its executive board and obt

Export of surplus sugar recommended

The Sugar Advisory Board on Wednesday recommended export of 100,000 tonnes of surplus sugar. The recommendation was made at a meeting of the board, presided over by Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain. The meeting reviewed sugar stock and its prices in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Tanveer said the country has surplus sugar and no increase in the ex-mill p

IMF loan uncertainty weighs on stocks

As the earnings season nears its end, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced a marginal decline on Tuesday amid reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting agenda did not feature approval of a $7 billion loan for Pakistan and uncertainty over securing $3-5 billion in external financing. The trading day started on a strong note, with the KSE-100 index hovering around the ps