HERE is an interesting question: what exactly animates the polity in Pakistan that it sees repeated military interventions in civilian politics, as well as repeated attempts by political parties to try and team up with the military and annihilate their opponents? All political systems see competition between parties. It is what they are designed to do after all, to sublimate the conflictual for
Saudi Mining Minister Bandar Alkhorayef told Reuters on Wednesday that Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals was looking at investing in Balochistan’s Reko Diq mine. He added that the Saudi Development Fund could contribute over $100 million to Pakistan’s mining infrastructure. “Part of what we are looking at is how we can help Pakistan also in some infrastructure,” Alkhorayef said in
The federal government on Wednesday hiked the petrol price by Rs3.47 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.61 per litre for the next fortnight. The new petrol price is Rs256.13 per litre and that of HSD is Rs260.95. “Ogra has worked out the consumer prices of petroleum products in view of fluctuations in international market in the last fortnight,” said a press release from th
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal urged banks on Wednesday to establish an “export development window” offering soft loans primarily to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to double exports under the newly launched five-year economic transformation programme, Uraan Pakistan. The minister emphasised the urgent need to increase exports from $30 billion to $100bn and to drive economic
The Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector contracted 1.25 per cent in the first five months of 2024-25, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. Since August 2024, the LSM has declined for two consecutive months. Domestic and global factors contributed to the downturn in FY24. The LSM grew positively from December 2023 to May 2024 before entering negative territo