The present government had informed the nation last year that it would borrow Rs843 billion from banks during FY23 ending this month. But between July 1, 2022, and June 2, 2023 (28 days before the close of the year), the federal government has already borrowed Rs3.176 trillion from banks. This not only crowded out the private sector and contributed to tanking of the economic growth from 6.1 per
Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistani workers and diaspora have the potential to increase to up to $50 billion if the money transfers through the illegal Hawala/Hundi operations are plugged. The money transfer market operators estimate the illicit global remittance trade size to be up to 80 per cent of the legitimate transactions of $700bn. “It means the actual global remittance market
Textile and clothing exports contracted by 14.72 per cent year-on-year to $15.03 billion during the first 11 months of the outgoing fiscal year. The decline in production is mainly attributable to a surge in the cost of production and a liquidity crunch, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. The export figures for May paint a bleak picture as they w
The government on Monday decided to hold formal negotiations with the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP) for the speedy transfer of the Container Terminal from Karachi Port Trust (KPT). This may be the first commercial transaction for the divestment of public sector assets to friendly countries under a recently enacted law – Inter-Governmental Commercial Transaction Act 2022 – through direct negotiati
The short-term Punjab budget for 2023-24 lacks basic information and some of the provisions made under various heads need clarification including the bloc allocation of Rs325 billion for development schemes and Rs70bn subsidy for the poor. “The budget document lacks details about the allocations made for various sectors. The budget has been distributed among sectors/departments in the form of b