HOURS after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced its monetary policy decision cutting the key policy rate by one percentage point, the business community was in an uproar. They wanted more. Taking the lead in this clamour for faster rate cuts is the apex chamber of the country, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. In a testy statement issued immediately after the
Pakistan will present three high-impact projects worth $580 million in hydropower and communication sectors to secure funding at the fourth international conference on financing for development in Spain in June. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has completed feasibility studies of the three SDG-aligned projects, which include $38.4m for a 10.96MW Mehar hydropower project in Kasur
Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan assures the European Union of adhering to 27 international conventions to avail of the trade benefits under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme. On Tuesday, the minister gave the assurance at a meeting with EU Special Representative for Human Rights Ambassador Olaf Skoog to discuss ways to strengthen the partnership through trade and economi
While state-owned power distribution companies have sought an over 400 per cent increase in security deposits from consumers, two federal ministers advocated for cheaper electricity rates for industrial consumers and the rationalisation of the ‘disproportionate tax burden’ on the salaried class in the coming months. At an event organised by the Pakistan Business Council, Finance Minister Muhamm
Chinese tech company Alibaba on Wednesday released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence (AI) model that it claimed surpassed the highly acclaimed DeepSeek-V3. The unusual timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max’s release, on the first day of the Lunar New Year when most Chinese people are off work and with their families, points to the pressure Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s meteoric rise in