The central bank has purchased over $5 billion from the market during this fiscal year, a record amount that is equal to two-thirds of Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves and also far higher than the size of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package. While the central bank’s intervention has kept foreign currency reserves stable at $8 billion despite heavy debt repayments,
AS a new-found stability settles across the land all eyes are turning towards its durability. The current account has been registering persistent surpluses for a number of months now, and looks set to complete this fiscal year in positive territory if present trends continue. The primary balance on the fiscal account was also in surplus until December, with all indications suggesting it will comfo
Faysal Bank Ltd (FBL) continued its growth stride during the first quarter of 2024, with a profit after tax doubled to Rs6.5 billion compared to Q12023. Earnings per share increased from Rs2.12 to Rs4.29, while the bank also declared an interim cash dividend of Re1 per share.
Amid continuously rising domestic prices, the government on Thursday decided to import at least 200,000 tonnes of urea to meet ongoing kharif requirements. Subject to the proverbial endorsement by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in its upcoming meeting, a decision to import urea was taken at a meeting of the Fertiliser Review Committee (FRC) presided over by Minister fo
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves declined by $74 million to $7.981 billion during the week ending April 19. The central bank announced on Thursday that the decline was due to external debt repayments. The SBP paid $1bn in the second week of this month against the maturity of Eurobonds but did not report any decline in its forex holdings. This was surprising for ma