News

Arrangements made for $3.7bn debt repayment: ministry

Amid continuous delays to the staff-level agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government on Tuesday said arrangements had been made to meet external obligations of $3.7 billion by end-June. In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said $3.7bn had to be repaid during the remaining period of the current fiscal year ending June 30. “This should not be any cause of concern as arran

Stocks falter after 13-day winning streak

After rallying for 13 sessions in a row, the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday came under selling pressure as bears took charge of the trading floor. Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index of the bourse lost 474.53 points in intraday trading owing to the negative news flow regarding the revival of the International Monetary Fund loan programme. The negative trigger created disappointment am

Oil prices climb as recession fears begin to fade

Oil prices rose on Monday as fears of a recession in the US, which drove prices down for three straight weeks for the first time since November, started receding. Brent crude futures were up 43 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $75.73 a barrel at 06:24 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 45 cents, also 0.6pc, at $71.79 a barrel. “Oil’s rebound follows energy stocks’ comeback

Duty-free vehicle import facility withdrawn

The government has reversed the facility of temporary import of duty-free vehicles for overseas Pakistanis and restricted it only to foreign tourists. A series of amendments were made through a customs notification, SRO533, by amending rules for temporary import of vehicles. Over the last five years, 1000 vehicles entered Pakistan under the tourist facility, while only 900 were verified to h

Exports of services fall for third month

Pakistan’s export of services fell 13.50 per cent for the third consecutive month to $614.96 million in March from $710.94m over the corresponding month of last year, according to the data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The export of services recorded positive growth during the first half of the current fiscal year, but it started contracting in January. The export of commoditie