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Ecnec clears health, energy projects worth over Rs1tr

The Executive Committee of the Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved six projects with an estimated cost of Rs1.077 trillion including two mega country-wide projects in health and energy sectors. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar presided over the meeting also attended by Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pash

Stocks rally 378 points on IMF optimism

Equities continued on Monday their post-Eid bull run into the second week as optimism prevailed following the country’s $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the Interna­tional Monetary Fund (IMF). Topline Securities said shares witnessed a strong momentum and remained positive throughout the day as investors looked forward to favourable developments on the economic front. Investors’ co

Aiding investment

THE new Pakistan Investment Policy 2023 appears to have been driven by the government’s short- to medium-term objective of facilitating ‘promised’ investment from the Gulf countries, and the longer-term goal of improving the overall business environment at home to enhance investment-to-GDP ratio to 20pc. The World Bank estimates that investment will plunge to 13.3pc as a ratio of GDP during the

Dollar up Rs1.90 against rupee

The dollar appreciated by Rs1.90 to Rs279.80 against the rupee in the interbank market on Monday. The State Bank reported the closing price of dollar at Rs279.80 compared to Rs277.90 in the last session held on July 7, indicating that the impact of a staff-level agreement with the IMF is losing its influence on currency markets helping the greenback appreciate in both interbank and open markets

Fitch upgrades Pakistan to ‘CCC’ after IMF pact

Fitch Ratings on Monday upgraded Pakistan’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) to ‘CCC’ from ‘CCC-’ reflecting reduced external financing risks with improved external liquidity and funding conditions following recent staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF on a nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) in June. “We expect the SLA to be approved by the IMF board in July, catalys