News

Govt plans urea imports to ensure price stability

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

SBP reserves down by $74m

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

‘Modern warehousing can transform agriculture’

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that Pakistan’s current economic outlook can help the private and financial sectors transform agriculture in the country. He was speaking at the concluding session of ‘Agri Connections 2024’ at the Expo Centre on Thursday. “Robust growth in the agriculture sector, declining inflation rates, strong value of the rupee, strong remittance inflows, ris

RDA inflows jump 29pc in March

March emerged as the most beneficial month of the current financial year for the country, as inflows from all sources increased, along with a 29 per cent rise in receipts through Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA). The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that inflows through RDA increased by $182 million in March, up 29pc from $141m in February, bringing the total to $7.660 billion, compared to $7

FBR, interior ministry told to crack down on rampant oil smuggling

Amid supply chain challenges leading to the closure of refining units and storage constraints, the government has asked the Mini­stry of Interior and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to start immediate operations against oil smuggling with the support of other stakeholders. Informed sources told Dawn the prime minister had also taken up the matter with the defence authorities to extend maximu