News

Pakistan receives $500m from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Tuesday that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) had transferred Rs500 million to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). “AIIB has transferred today, as per their board’s approval, to State Bank of Pakistan/Government of Pakistan $500 million as programme financing,” the minister said on Twitter Earlier this month, the finance minister had said

Surprise policy rate hike shocks trade and industry

Already struggling for their survival amid multiple economic challenges mainly massive rupee-dollar fluctuation and severe energy shortages, the trade and industry leaders on Friday rejected the State Bank of Pakistan’s move to raise its policy rate by 100 basis points saying it would play havoc with the cost of doing business besides hitting exports hard. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Com

Crypto lessons from Sultana Daku

The last few weeks have been particularly volatile for crypto — even by its own standards. In a matter of days, the space has seen one of the biggest players, FTX, plunge into bankruptcy from a valuation of $32 billion. Not only that, more drama is coming to the limelight as the layers of the onion are peeled. Forget for a minute that the crypto exchange held just $900 million in liquid assets

The Catch-22 of growth and inflation

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has raised its key policy rate by 100 basis points to 16 per cent to ensure that the current high rate of headline inflation (26.6pc) doesn’t become entrenched and “risks to financial stability are contained”. The central bank believes that “the short-term costs of bringing inflation down are lower than the long-term costs of allowing it to become entrenched.” I

Seeking new economic paths

By appointing most senior generals for the top military slots, Prime Minister Shehbaz’s government has put to rest unsettling speculations. The real test, however, is on the economic front. Much depends on handling the toxic mix of steep inflation and sagging growth. The latest data tracks inflation at 30.1 per cent year-on-year. The World Bank projected a GDP growth rate of 2.0pc in the curren