WITH dangerously low foreign exchange reserves and a steep debt repayment schedule looming for fiscal year 2024 that begins in July, Pakistan is facing a stark prospect of potential default or even a larger balance of payments crisis in the 12 months ahead. Data obtained unofficially from a senior source privy to the country’s debt repayment schedule shows Pakistan faces $8.7 billion outflows o
The government on Thursday decided to keep the prices of all petroleum products unchanged, except light diesel oil, for the next fortnight ending June 30 in line with the international market. In a pre-recorded brief statement on national hook-up, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the final price calculations provided by the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) at the close of business hours sug
The Ministry of Planning and Development on Thursday launched a portal on its website to make available to people the data relating to Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects worth Rs1.1 trillion, saying it would ensure transparency. Minister for Planning & Development Ashan Iqbal formally launched the PSDP portal. The PSDP, which constitutes the Federal Development Budget, serves a
An increase in fixed retail tax from 12 per cent to 15pc and restricting business hours for retail outlets to 8pm will lead to a big drop in sales, store closures and job losses, warned an umbrella body on Thursday. Since the retail sector accounts for 18 per cent of the country’s GDP — $62 billion out of $360bn — a significant reduction in demand for local textile products will have severe con
Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir has said that despite objections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government would continue with its plans to dole out a huge power subsidy. Speaking at a press conference in Hyderabad, he said Pakistan had managed issues without IMF’s support and hoped that “we can pass more days without this support”. He admitted that the IMF had become a “veri