Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have reached a consensus on the investment modalities, paving the path for the ratification of a much-awaited free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a development that has been pending for the last 19 years. A high-powered delegation, led by Interim Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz, held the final round of discussions with the GCC’s chief negotiator
MARKETS are reacting adversely to the attempts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies to shore up crude market prices. To prevent the prices from lowering further, Opec+ ministers opted to increase their ‘voluntary’ output cut last Thursday. At the ‘virtual’ meeting’, several Opec+ countries agreed to voluntarily cut oil production by 2.2 million barrels per
THE Loss and Damage Fund (L&DF), agreed on in COP27, is considered a historic triumph for climate-vulnerable developing countries in the global South. Encouragingly, it came off as an early success and the highlight of the first day at the COP28, which is currently taking place in the UAE. It took developing countries almost three decades to convince the international community to establish the
THE debate surrounding the State Bank’s independence is again picking up pace after some shocking claims made by the federal minister for privatisation, blaming the International Monetary Fund for direct intrusion in the country’s central banking system. It all started back in January of 2022, when the parliament passed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill, 2021. This legislation cre
WITH the eagerly awaited national polls set to be held on February 8, most political parties — barring the one that has recently fallen out of favour with the country’s establishment — have begun to build up their campaigns for power. Shortly, they are expected to come up with their election manifestos, outlining their broader political and economic plans for the next five years to give people