THE future servicing of external and domestic debts has become a huge undertaking, having crimped our ability to even fund operational expenditures. The reason for this concern is not just because of the enormity of the task, as shown below, but also because the IMF, which continues to consider our debt sustainable, says in its report on the first review that “The overall risk of sovereign stre
The MCB Bank on Tuesday announced that its profit-after-tax (PAT) surged 82 per cent to Rs59.6 billion in 2023, translating into an earnings per share (EPS) of Rs50.32 compared to Rs27.63 in the preceding year. The bank’s board of directors in its meeting under the chairmanship of Mian Mohammad Mansha reviewed the performance and approved the financial statements for the year ended Dec 31, 202
The government raised Rs64 billion through the auction of market treasury bills on Tuesday against the target of Rs480bn. The State Bank of Pakistan reported that the cut-off yields were reduced by up to 15 basis points. The three-month T-bills noted a decline of 6bps to 20.44 per cent. The benchmark six-month tenor noted no change in the cut-off yield while the 12-month paper witnessed a de
Pakistan’s road to securing high credit ratings will depend on whether the elections this week will bring about a government that can push for tough reforms, according to S&P Global Ratings. Almost all top rating agencies have downgraded the country’s ratings due to prolonged political and economic crisis. The economic situation has apparently improved, but the uncertainty over fair elections r
Services’ exports in December 2023 contracted year-on-year for the second consecutive month during the current fiscal year, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The services exports shrank 6.93 per cent to $726.94 million in December from $781.09m in the corresponding month last year. Contrary to this, merchandise exports reversed the trend and increased in Januar