The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Thursday approved a Rs31 billion supplementary grant to the defence ministry and cleared an out-of-court settlement with three “non-performing and defaulter” oil and gas companies over 11 exploration and concession blocks to push for new domestic hydrocarbon finds. In a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the commi
The Pakistani rupee continued to fall against the dollar for the third consecutive session on Friday, losing 97 paise in the interbank market. The local currency closed at Rs222.47 per dollar, a depreciation of 0.44 per cent from yesterday’s close of Rs221.5, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. Since the start of this fiscal year, the PKR’s value has declined by Rs16.64 or 7.52pc, accor
Oil prices fell on Friday after China, the world’s top crude oil importer, widened its Covid-19 curbs, but were poised for a weekly gain on supply concerns ahead of Europe’s pending cut-off of Russian imports. Brent crude futures eased 78 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $96.18 a barrel at 0350 GMT, after rising 1.3pc in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $
Trading on the stock exchange stayed range-bound on Monday even though the Financial Action Task Force announced that it took Pakistan off its grey list. Arif Habib Ltd said the stock market was unable to capitalise on the positive trigger because of the political upheaval, which kept investors at bay. The mainboard shares attracted reasonable volumes but the top volume leaders were mostly t
FINANCE Minister Ishaq Dar seems to have run out of steam ever since he returned from Washington. His aggressive approach towards the economy and the exchange rate is absent. He is no longer talking about bringing the dollar down to below Rs200, and the “befitting response” promised to Moody’s after it downgraded Pakistan’s rating, has yet to materialise. All of this only suggests that the e