The caretaker government imposed a one-off 40 per cent tax on bank profits reaped from foreign exchange transactions in the past two years, a measure the previous coalition administration also considered but failed to implement. The federal cabinet’s approval of the windfall tax came after strong criticism of banks that they had earned a hefty Rs110 billion in profits in 2021 and 2022 from the
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan on the first review of a short-term loan deal, which will unlock about $700 million next month. The funds to be issued are a second tranche of the nine-month bailout package and are subject to approval from the IMF’s executive board, the lender said in a statement. This will bring total disbursement
The trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday kicked off on a positive note owing to an all-time-high close a day ago. Topline Securities Ltd said the momentum lost steam as sellers entered the market, leading the KSE-100 index to a rapid 755-point decline. Subsequently, bulls regained control of the trading floor and took advantage of the downswing in share prices. Power, i
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Islamic Finance Director Ghulam Muhammad Abbasi said on Tuesday environmental shocks have destabilised world economies as unchecked production and consumption backed by traditional finance have hurt the planet. Speaking at a two-day International Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance at the Institute of Business Management, Mr Abbasi said asset-backed Islamic fi
The insurance sector penetration has stagnated for years at less than one per cent of GDP, while several categories, including micro insurance, livestock insurance, and insurance against losses due to disaster and terrorism, were almost nonexistent. This was highlighted in a media engagement held by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Tuesday. The gross premium in th