State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad has urged commercial banks to rethink their business models and prioritise loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to support the country's economic growth instead of lending heavily to the government. Speaking at the closing session of the two-day Pakistan Banking Summit 2025 on Tuesday, Ahmad stressed the need for banks to shift their fo
The bureaucracy is trying to take over management of a publicly listed company by invoking the "notorious" 53-year-old Nationalisation and Economic Reforms Order of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that torpedoed the economy, revealed proceedings of a parliamentary committee meeting. In order to stop further destruction of Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO), the existing shareholders complained to Prime Mi
A parliamentary fact-finding committee has found that the decision to allow Gulf airlines to expand their operations was the main cause behind the downfall of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as these airlines carried passengers beyond the intended scope of their bilateral service agreements. Due to the Open Sky Policy, PIA's market share decreased from 50% to 20%. Constant management cha
The stock market continued its northward journey on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE 100 index surpassed the 115,000 barrier in intraday trading but failed to sustain gains above this level on profit-taking. Topline Securities Ltd noted that the benchmark KSE 100 index rally was supported by local fund buying. It reached a high of 115,890 points before closing at 114,528 points, gaining 198 points
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Muhammad Ali, in a comment to Financial Times, denied any “coercion” in negotiations with independent power producers (IPPs) following a letter signed by a group of international lenders. On Feb 18, eight Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), which have financed power projects worth $2.7 billion in the country over the past 25 years, criticised the governm