Share prices of Islamic banks took a beating on Monday, thanks to Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar’s recent statement that customers are getting short-changed by Sharia-compliant lenders by way of insufficient returns on deposits. Speaking to a TV host, Dr Akhtar said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should review the issue of minimum deposit rate (MDR) — a provision that Islamic banks are c
State-run Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) on Monday awarded a contract to OQ Trading —an Oman subsidy — to deliver an LNG cargo in the second week of January at a post-bidding negotiated price of $17.95 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) to minimise peak winter gas shortage. Earlier, the PLL had received four international bids against its urgent tender. OQ Trading was the lowest at $18.46 per uni
With the completion of eight under-construction water and hydropower projects, the carryover water capacity of the country will increase from 30 days to 45 days with an addition of 9.7 million acre-feet water storage and hydel power generation will be doubled to 18,000MW with an increase of 9,043MW. This was briefed to a delegation of PAF Air War College Karachi during their visit to Wapda Hous
A Senate panel on Monday found fault with the procurement of foreign multilateral-funded projects in the power sector and ordered the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) not to sign a final agreement with a local firm till a conclusion because of suspicious circumstances. A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Power presided over by Saifullah Abro took up the matter of Nes
Distributive politics is at the core of Pakistan’s electoral system, where the ‘electability’ of an individual politician is believed to largely depend on their ability to secure resources to fund ‘development schemes’ or public services in their respective constituencies once the voters return them to the assemblies. No wonder the ruling parties allocate state resources, especially the annual