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Last Friday, China raised tariffs on US goods to 125 per cent to match the import levies slammed by President Donald Trump on its exports as the world’s two largest economies took turns putting trade barriers against each other. But Beijing said it would ignore further levies by President Donald Trump because it no longer makes economic sense for importers to buy from America, dismissing Trump’s m

Over 6,700 Sikhs arrived last week from India to take part in the Baisakhi Mela (festival) to be held on April 14 at Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib. Some of the holiest sites for Sikhs are in Pakistan. In India, the Golden Temple has about 100,000 pilgrims daily. But that is not the only avenue of religious tourism. At $3.3m, religious tourism reached its highest level ever in FY24, the y

The Asian Development Bank has projected a 2.5 per cent growth in Pakistan’s economy for the current fiscal year ending in June. Although the State Bank of Pakistan has retained its earlier forecast of 2.5pc to 3.5pc, the continued lag in domestic aggregate demand makes the lower end of the range appear more realistic. The sluggish pace of demand is evident from the tanking of consumer inflatio

Amid rosy economic indicators, like a three-decade low consumer price index (CPI) for March 2025 at 0.7 per cent, a drop in the interest rate to 12pc from 22pc, stability in rupee-dollar parity, a manageable current account deficit and rising remittances, consumers are still facing an uphill battle in purchasing a new or old house/apartment owing to unbearable prices as a result of high constructi

This wheat season has turned out even more punishing for farmers than the last. Buyers are scarce, and market prices have plunged to around Rs2,200-2,300 per maund — far below production costs and nearly half the support price announced for the two crops of 2023 and 2024. Even more concerning, Punjab’s harvest — accounting for nearly 75 per cent of national production — has yet to peak. It’s a bit