The State Bank kept the interest rate unchanged at a record 22 per cent on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive meeting, hoping to see a significant decline in inflation in the second half of the fiscal year. Most independent economists and analysts expected the central bank to hold the rate steady due to a surge in the November inflation. The bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) said that a
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Tuesday cleared four development projects at an estimated cost of Rs36.22 billion in the areas of water resources, housing and communications in Balochistan to secure much-delayed international financial assistance from multilateral lenders committed under Geneva pledges for post-flood rehabilitation and reconstruction. The meeting of the CDWP was
Attock Refinery Ltd has shut down two of its crude distillation units temporarily to manage refinery operations, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday. The refinery, which has a nameplate capacity of 53,400 barrels per day, said it’d be operating at a throughput of about 60 per cent going forward because the despatch pattern of petrol and diesel for the current month continues
The caretaker government machinery scrambled on Tuesday to assure the nation that the country has sufficient fertiliser stocks and that all fertiliser plants will be provided with an uninterrupted gas supply throughout the ongoing winter season to maximise production. “All plants will be running at full capacity throughout the current winter season… to ensure a consistent and sufficient local s
In an already struggling environment, the surging prices of wheat flour, onion and sugar have added salt to the wounds of low- and middle-income households. The price of onion, a high-running staple food of almost every household, has jumped to Rs200-220 per kg from Rs150-180 per kg last week, while it was tagged at Rs120-150 per kg two weeks back. While retailers continued to blame higher o