The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed banks to acquire US dollars from the interbank market for the settlement of card-based cross-border transactions with the International Payment System, apparently to bring down the dollar rate in the open market. The SBP issued a circular on Wednesday, which indicates that this is a short-term move as the permission granted to banks will end on July
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Wednesday approved four development projects in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a total estimated cost of Rs120.185bn. Presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the meeting of the committee was also attended by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, Senat
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday saw a new window of hope to get stalled funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s telephonic engagement with Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the Washington-based lender, the last weekend as the government promised a ‘relief budget’ next week within the requirements of the Fund programme. “We are foll
The government on Wednesday reduced fuel prices by Rs5 to 8 per litre for the next fortnight in line with the global market trend. In a video address, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the price of petrol had been reduced by Rs8 per litre, whereas the price of high-speed diesel — the most inflationary item — and that of light diesel oil (LDO) was cut by Rs5 each. The rate of kerosene, however, ha
The bullish momentum continued on the national bourse on Tuesday with the benchmark index of representative shares rising amid positive triggers on the economic front. Topline Securities said the upward trend in equities could be attributed to the acknowledgment by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) representative with regard to the continuation of engagement with Pakistan for the ninth r