Beyond conventional diplomatic efforts, Pakistan has yet to undertake a comprehensive national-level initiative to meticulously monitor, analyse and prepare for the potential ramifications of the escalating cycle of retaliation in the Middle East. These potential effects encompass a surge in oil prices, displacement of the Pakistani workforce in the Middle East, deferment of work on the already
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has stated that the process of privatising PIA will be finalised by the end of June or early July, with Islamabad airport potentially following suit shortly after. “The government has no business being in business,” the minister declared at a Saturday afternoon news briefing, explaining the government’s plan to divest from state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
In the run-up to the finalisation of the federal budget for 2024-25, the Ministry of Finance has asked all ministries, divisions, departments, and self-governing entities to surrender by May 15 the funds that they think cannot be utilised within the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2024. Under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) of 2019, all entities established or operated with public
Despite massive foreign buying on Thursday, the stock market turned in a depressed performance amid the widening of the fiscal deficit and dismal auto sales data, forcing the benchmark KSE 100 index to close in the red for the third consecutive session. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the market remained under pressure amid a slump in global crude oil prices and steady government t
Consumers remained reluctant to avail costly auto financing, which consequently plunged for the 21st consecutive month ending March 2024 to Rs239 billion, down by 1.4 per cent or Rs3.5bn month-on-month. According to data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the total decline in the last 21 months stood at Rs128bn, down from Rs368bn at the end of June 2022. Expensive financing, due to