News

PM leaves for Baku today; LNG deal announced

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will undertake an official two-day visit to Azerbaijan from Wednesday, a day after Pakistan issued two tenders seeking spot LNG cargoes for the first time in nearly a year, and also announced a deal that will see Baku supplying Islamabad with one LNG cargo every month. Pakistan LNG, a government subsidiary that procures LNG from the international market, has one te

New ministry proposed to generate more dollars

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday said after returning to power, the PTI would create a federal ministry to boost the dollar income and a separate set-up planning and looking for venues to generate greenbacks so that perennial problems can be sorted out. Addressing a webinar, with a rather extended title — From Crisis to Catastrophe: Budget 2023-24 and Plight of Common Pak

Power firms to charge additional Rs15.6bn

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday notified about Rs1.61 per unit additional fuel cost adjustment (FCA) in power tariff for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) for one month to mop up about Rs15.6 billion in additional funds in the current billing month. The “adjustment of an increase of Rs1.6075/kWh shall apply to all the consumer categories except Electri

Pakistan lost $3.7bn in remittances

The remittances sent by overseas Pakistani workers dipped month-on-month by 4 per cent and 10pc year-on-year to $2.1 billion in May. The latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday showed that the country lost $3.7bn in remittances during the first 11 months of FY23 mainly due to a wid­ening exchange rate gap. The inflows tumbled by 12.98pc to $24.831bn in 11MFY23 com

ML-1 cost more than doubled due to delay, PM told

The cost of the ambitious Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project has escalated more than 100 per cent due to delay in its execution, making it difficult for the government to find resources for the venture. Now, the cost of the project, which was conceived under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2016 with an estimated cost of $6 million and financial assurance from Beijing, has gone up to