News

Stocks rally on Moody’s rating upgrade

The bulls ended a three-day losing streak on Thursday following a rating upgrade that improved the economic outlook, leading to cherry-picking and lifting the benchmark index above 78,000. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed bullish on Moody’s Ratings’ upgrade to Caa2, raising the outlook to positive on reduced default risk. He added that falling bond yields and greate

Credit rating upgrade

THE decision by Moody’s to upgrade Pakistan’s long-term sovereign credit rating from Caa3 to Caa2 could not have come at a better time. The agency has also revised its outlook for the country’s beleaguered economy from stable to positive. The rating upgrade, which comes after a similar announcement by Fitch, is inspired by Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic conditions, especially liquidity and its

Oil industry seeks ban on illegal solvent

The oil industry has urged the federal government to immediately ban the illegal import and distribution of light aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent mixed with petroleum products that cause damage to automobile engines. Expressing grave concerns regarding illegal imports, Oil Marketing Association of Pakistan (OMAP) Chairman Tariq Wazir Ali said this solvent is being extensively used in the adultera

SBP reserves rise to $9.4bn

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $112 million to $9.403 billion during the week ending on August 23, reported the central bank on Thursday without disclosing the source of this inflow. In a recent interview, SBP Governor Ahmed Jameel said the government had approached Middle Eastern banks to borrow $4bn. Media reports indicate that the governme

Aurangzeb mulls incentives to attract foreign direct investment

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday reaffirmed that the government was keen on introducing policy measures that would streamline investment processes and provide incentives to foreign investors. Chairing a meeting with representatives from Pak-Brunei Investment Company Ltd (PBICL) and Saudi-Pak Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company (SPI&AIC) to evaluate the progress, challe