The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank rose $14 million in a week, the central bank said on Thursday, but the rupee remained under pressure and fell for the ninth consecutive day in the interbank market to close at 283.43 against the dollar. According to the SBP data, its reserves increased $14m during the week ending Oct 27 to $7.51 billion, though the bank did not specify the co
The caretaker government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) kicked off the much-awaited loan review talks on a generally positive note on Thursday, setting the stage for a deep dive into forward-looking reforms under a nine-month bailout package, slated to be completed in March next year. Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar and the IMF’s mission chief for Pakistan, Nathan Porte
Pakistani shares witnessed another bullish day on the stock exchange as the benchmark index of major listed companies stayed in the positive range throughout trading hours on Wednesday. Topline Securities Ltd said the extended momentum can be attributed to crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that are scheduled to begin on today (Thursday) under the $3bn Stand-By Arrangement
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index crossed the 52,000 barrier on Wednesday, after gaining more than 400 points. The index gained 422.36 points, or 0.81pc, to close at 52,342.63 points from the previous 51,920.27. Yesterday, share prices had risen on the maintenance of the monetary policy status quo announced on Monday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) sustained its p
THIS could be a case study in how not to do things. Common sense tells us that when problems are left to fester for long, they can grow in scale and complexity. Having postponed inevitable adjustments for long periods of time, a moment arrives when the necessary adjustment has to be undertaken in panic, in a short period of time, without the luxury of staggering out its impact, or embedding it wit