Equities falter on rising political noise, grim economic outlook

Despite a surge in remittances and automobile sales, the stock market closed the week on a negative note due to uncertainty about the economic outlook amid growing political noise following the apex court’s landmark decision on reserve seats and new conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Surprisingly, the IMF announced on Saturday morning that it had reached a Staff-Level Agreement with Pakistan for a new 37-month $7 billion (SDR 5.3bn) Extended Fund Facility. Earlier, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed hope on Thursday that an agreement with the Fund was likely this month, as the government had already met all the conditions for a new loan deal.