Trading on the stock exchange commenced on a negative note in the outgoing week amid a surprising policy rate hike by the central bank, which increased the benchmark rate by 100 basis points to 16 per cent. The negative mood was reinforced by rising political noise. Arif Habib Ltd said the momentum briefly turned green after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received $500 million from Asian Infr
Prime Minister Shehbaz’s rudderless government has failed to inspire trust in the economy, currently in a mess, with brewing currency, energy and commodity crises, making bare survival difficult for a wide majority of lucky working Pakistanis. What it must be like for the jobless is anybody’s guess. The rise in crimes committed by people against their own families gives clues about the severity
Despite rising interest rates, the federal government is borrowing lots of money from commercial banks to bridge the gap between its income and expenses. And banks are happy. They are earning windfalls by investing in zero-risk government treasury bills and bonds. But the private sector is suffering as most banks cater to only large industrial/ commercial borrowers besides offering consumer loa
Earlier this year, Pakistan was closing in on technology services exports of $3 billion for FY22. The sitting IT minister even claimed we’d surpass it, and based on the growth trajectory then, there was little reason to doubt him. All hopes for dollar inflows were pinned to one sector basically, apart from the mercy of our overseas brethren. But then, the growth began to taper off. After reachi
Recently, the State Bank of Pakistan announced a 100 basis points hike in the policy rate to 16 per cent, against the market expectations of the status quo. It was done in response to the inflationary pressures, which have been proven to be stronger and more persistent than expected. For too long, we have relied solely on monetary policy to control demand and inflation to cool down the heated e