Equity investors remained in the bullish mind of the frame on Thursday, indulging in cherry-picking, as slashing of yields on treasury bills (T-bills) and falling Kibor aided the benchmark index to extend its overnight rally. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks maintained a bullish tone after the government slashed returns on various tenors of T-bills by up to 148bps, boosting e
Several banks are offering new financing to businesses at rates below the Karachi Inter-Bank Offered Rate (KIBOR), as the benchmark six-month KIBORrepresenting the interest rate at which banks lend to each otherdropped by 63 basis points, reaching a 19-month low of 17.94% on Thursday. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Saad Hanif, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, explained that the
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will change the designs of all currency notes before the start of next year, and also introduce at least one plastic note as an experiment, central bank Governor Jameel Ahmad said on Wednesday. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, the SBP chief said that the new-design notes will be introduced in December this year after approval from the federal c
As Pakistan begins seeking commercial loans from Middle Eastern banks to bridge a $2 billion external financing gap, the government informed a Senate panel on Thursday that the cost of borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has exceeded 5%, making it an expensive option. On Thursday, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb reached out to Dubai Islamic Bank, requesting a commercial loa
RARELY have I seen things as scattered and messy as they are today, in the realm of economic management in any case. At the epicentre of the mess is the IMF programme, all dressed up with nowhere to go. A staff-level agreement (SLA) was announced by the Fund on July 12, more than five weeks ago. Then on July 23, on the eve of his departure for China, the finance minister assured the country during