News

First-ever compliance centre launched

Comm­erce Ministry has launched the first-ever National Compliance Centre (NCC) aimed to ensure international compliance requirements and facilitate the manufacturers and exporters. The NCC would have a federal-level office with provincial secretariats to ensure coordination at the national level. It will have an organisational structure consisting of eight compliance clusters, and additional c

Foreign direct investment jumps 62pc to $163m

For the second month in a row, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) jumped month-on-month by 62 per cent to $163.4 million in March against a net outflow of $30.4m in the same month last year, reported the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday. This could be surprising for many that FDI has been increasing despite persistent political and economic crises. The FDI inflows in March were the sec

First current account surplus in two years

The country’s current account turned to a surplus of $654 million in March — a big monthly figure and the first surplus in over two years — against a deficit of $36m in February. This helped contract the ongoing fiscal year’s current account deficit (CAD) by a massive 74 per cent year-on-year to just $3.37bn in July-March. This decline in the current account deficit was the outcome of $11.25

In breach of law, govt borrows Rs239bn from State Bank: think tank

In an apparent deviation from the law, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is reported to have extended Rs239 billion credit to the PMLN-led coalition government in January-February to meet ballooning debt servicing requirements of the domestic commercial banks. Under the State Bank of Pakistan Act amended in 2022 on the dictation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), government borrowing from

Stocks rally as hopes rise for IMF tranche

Share pri­c­es rose on Tuesday as investors remained hopeful for the release of the delayed loan tranche from the International Mone­tary Fund (IMF). Arif Habib Ltd said inve­stors’ activity incre­ased marginally while the trading volume rose across the board slightly, with third-tier companies topping the volume board. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said stocks closed higher as the earnings season r