The current account posted a surplus in February, contrary to the preceding month, raising hopes that the government would achieve the current deficit target for fiscal year FY24. According to data released by the State Bank on Tuesday, the current account was $128 million in surplus last month, compared to a deficit of $303m in January and a deficit of $50m in Feb 2023. The State Bank, in i
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with Pakistan on the final review of a $3 billion bailout, where the country will receive $1.1 billion after approval from the Fund’s Executive Board, the lender said on Wednesday. The funds are the final tranche of a $3bn last-gasp rescue package Pakistan had secured last summer, which averted a sovereign debt defa
ISLAMABAD: With massive system losses of 14.5 per cent, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday notified up to 2.75pc increase in the sale price of Regasified Liquified Natural Gas (RLNG) for two Sui gas companies — SSGCL and SNGPL — for the current month with effect from March 1 owing to higher international prices. This is the first price increase after a gap of two consecuti
The government raised Rs704 billion from treasury bills on Wednesday, more than double the target set for the auction. At the same time, the cut-off yields on the treasury bills increased for the short-term three-month and long-term 12-month papers, but the rate for the benchmark six-month bills was kept unchanged. The State Bank raised Rs541.5bn for the three-month tenor at 21.66 per cent,
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s key diplomatic allies have begun discussions with the new government’s economic team to foster bilateral and multilateral economic and financial cooperation. European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka, US and China’s envoys Donald Blome and Jiang Zaidong met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the last four days. The three envoys met the finance minister a