The economic situation is going to be “very difficult” in coming months, with liquid foreign exchange reserves of the central bank likely to drop below the critical level of $2 billion by the end of September, said former finance minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday. Addressing a meeting of businesspeople at the German consulate, the estranged PML-N leader who served two brief stints as finance
The mid-year United Nations survey on the world economic situation forecast that the inflation rate in Pakistan is expected to remain in double digits in the coming months owing to weakening local currency and supply-side constraints. Domestic food inflation remains elevated due to country-specific factors, challenging food security across the South Asian region, particularly in Afghanistan, Ba
Once again the dollar breached the Rs300-barrier in the open market on Wednesday, widening the exchange rate differential to over Rs14 compared to the interbank market. Currency dealers said the shortage of dollars was the main reason for the price hike, however, other factors also influenced the exchange rate in the open market. The dollar was traded as high as Rs301 in the open market whil
The benchmark of representative firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange traded mostly on the higher side on Tuesday. Topline Securities said the positivity in the stock market could be attributed to the Supreme Court taking a “subdued tone” on the Punjab elections and delaying the hearing of the case until May 23. In addition, a religious party that’s part of the ruling coalition called
Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) shrank 25 per cent in March over the same month last year, the highest monthly decline since the Covid-19 pandemic, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The big industry production contracted for the seventh consecutive month of the current fiscal year mainly contributed to a slowdown in the production of export-based textile and c