Imports of the petroleum group dipped nearly 25.94 per cent year-on-year in October owing to the sharp reduction in demand as a result of the slowing down of the economy coupled with the highest-ever inflation. The highest-ever increase in prices also contributed to lower consumption of petroleum products. Data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed the imports of petrole
Pakistan still needs huge investments to develop an enabling environment and the required infrastructure to launch 5G, said Julian Gorman, the head of GSMA Asia-Pacific, on Thursday. Talking to the media, Mr Gorman expressed his disappointment that the situation had not changed much since he visited Pakistan three years ago regarding the Digital Pakistan initiative. He referred to the GSMA i
The federal government requested the Chinese embassy on Thursday to arrange a meeting of the Joint Energy Working Group — a forum set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — at the beginning of next week to resolve the conflict between China Power Hub Generation Company Ltd (CPHGC) and the Hub Power Company Ltd (Hubco). CPHGC served on Nov 23 an “encashment notice” of $150 million on th
Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) further declined by $134 million to $7.8 billion during the week ending Nov 18. The poor reserves position casts a negative impact on the exchange rate as the dollar is appreciating on a day-to-day basis in the interbank market. It appreciated by 50 paise during the last three working days. However, the interbank rate provide
Oil prices rose in Asia on Friday, despite thin market liquidity, after a week marked by worries about Chinese demand and haggling over a Western price cap on Russian oil. Brent crude futures rose by 28 cents, or 0.33 per cent, to trade at $85.62 a barrel at 0410 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 49 cents, or 0.49pc, from Wednesday’s close to $78.43 a barrel. There