News

Discos allowed to extract Rs16bn

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday concluded that ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) would charge an additional Rs1.61 per unit and K-Electric to refund Rs0.05 to their respective consumers for electricity consumed in April, under monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA) mechanism. The decisions were made upon completion of two separate public hearings. Discos

Credit card settlements to use interbank dollar rate

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

Ecnec clears four projects worth Rs120bn

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

Minister airs optimism about IMF funds

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

Petrol drops to Rs262/litre after second cut in a row

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