News

World equities sink

Stock markets tumbled on Thursday as investors fretted over the prospect of more US interest-rate hikes and the risk of recession. Wall Street extended losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.3 per cent near midday. European markets had their worst session since March 15, with London closing 2.2pc lower while Frankfurt shed 2.6pc and Paris dropped 3.1pc as the prospect of mor

Ginners suspend raw cotton buying

Ginners have decided to suspend buying raw cotton from farmers across the country after district commissioners in the cotton belt, both in Sindh and Punjab, directed them to pay the growers not less than Rs8,500 per maund. Provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab through the district administrations had asked the ginning factories to pay at least Rs8,500 per maund, the minimum support price f

Pakistan set to miss mango export target

Amid a 20 per cent drop in production, mango exporters have said achieving the export target of 125,000 tonnes has become a distant possibility due to the poor strategy of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP). All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) on Thursday said the DPP on June 12 issued a new SOP [standard operating procedure] requiring ho

Fiscal imbalance is shortening boom, bust cycle

The alternating phases of economic growth and subsequent decline — commonly known as the boom-and-bust cycle — are getting more frequent by the year. Analysts expect that the signing of the latest $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for nine months will be followed by a longer-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for a bigger amount — an indication that

Banks asked to arrange dollars for opening LCs

Banks have been asked to allow about 25 per cent higher imports but they will have to arrange dollars before opening letters of credit (LCs), sources in the banking industry told Dawn on Thursday. A shift has taken place regarding the arrangement of dollars. Bankers said they have been asked by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to arrange dollars before opening LCs which will limit imports due t