Pakistan’s eatable import bill surged by 21.32 per cent to $5.63 billion in the July-January period compared to $4.64bn in the corresponding period last year owing to higher international prices and massive depreciation of the rupee. The growth in food import bill was seen to bridge the shortfall of eatables in the domestic market. The share of eatables in the total import bill also posted grow
The rupee opened the week on a stronger note on Monday in line with other Asian currencies, as plans by US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold a summit on the Ukraine crisis boosted risk appetite. The rupee gained 11 paise, or 0.6 per cent, against the US dollar in the interbank market to close at 175.75 on Monday compared to 175.86 on Friday, according to the
The government is planning to arrange credit for lower cadre non-gazetted employees so they can benefit from the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme (NPHP) and to also allow overseas Pakistanis to avail loans under Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP), which is expected to be formally launched across the country on March 1 by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two proposals were discussed at two separate bu
In a bid to speed up work on sluggish foreign-funded development projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the federal government has decided to keep a physical check on their progress through satellite-based monitoring. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), which had taken up the issue of foreign-funded projects (FFPs) being implemented by the
The Pakistan Stock Exchange experienced a tumultuous week marred by escalation of Russia-Ukraine unrest, spike in oil prices and rise in trade deficit. As a result, the KSE-100 remained volatile and slid 404 points or 0.9% to close at 45,676 level. “Major reason for the negative momentum this week was higher oil prices triggered by the Ukraine-Russia conflict,” said JS Global analyst Muhammad W