Attracting sizeable foreign investment has always been a dream of successive governments. However, the situation has mostly stayed the same as inflows remained unimpressive despite significant growth in percentage terms. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday reported that the foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 32 per cent to $904 million during July-October FY25 compared to $683m in the
Over one-third of the newly discovered gas reserves would be sold to private companies, a high-level committee decided on Monday. The decision by the committee, led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, came after almost a year-long resistance from government-owned gas companies over this issue. The committee decided to sell 35pc of new gas finds to third-party private entities through a biddi
Efforts for the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIACL) would continue and it would require a fresh approach and ‘big-hearted’ decisions, Minister for Privatisation Abdul Aleem Khan told the Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation on Monday. He revealed that the first consultant engaged for the task was deemed unsatisfactory, and now a new consultant would be hired to help m
Phutti arrivals at ginning factories kept a promising trend for the third consecutive fortnight, strengthening hopes for harvesting over six million bales this season. Cotton production during the last three fortnights remained 22 per cent higher than last season’s. However, the total arrivals touched 4.894m bales till Nov 15, which is 34pc less year-on-year, according to the data released by t
Exports of raw food items surged 21.73 per cent to $2.36 billion in July-October from $1.94bn in the corresponding period last year, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In FY24, the raw food exports touched $8bn, up from $5.8bn in the preceding year. As a result, consumers nationwide are paying higher prices for food items because of supply and demand gaps. Raw f