Banks find themselves trapped in liquidity surplus these days, forcing them to start lending at throwaway rates as low as three per cent per annum to avoid paying tax on Advance-to-Deposit Ratio (ADR) applicable at the end of calendar year 2024. Banking has completely changed in Pakistan as both the government and the banks are flush with liquidity. For years the government has been the largest
Oil prices jumped about four per cent on Tuesday following reports Iran was preparing to launch a missile attack on Israel. Brent futures were up $2.50, or 3.5pc, to $74.20 a barrel by 11:50 a.m. EDT (1550 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.54, or 3.7pc, to $70.71. Israel’s elite units launched limited ground raids into Lebanon, as Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in L
The country’s overall oil sales recorded a month-on-month increase of 5 per cent and 20pc year-on-year to 1.27 million tonnes in September. According to Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), petrol sales rose 2pc to 0.63m tonnes in September from 0.62m tonnes in August while sales jumped 22pc year-on-year. An 8pc rise was recorded in high-speed diesel (HSD) to 0.49m tonnes from 0.46m tonnes in August. Howev
Two agriculture companies from Russia and Pakistan have signed barter deals to trade chickpeas and lentils from Russia in exchange for rice, mandarins and potatoes, Russia’s TASS news agency reported on Tuesday. Grappling with payment issues due to Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow is pursuing barter deals that strip away the need for payment exchange,
Shares at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) traded in the red on Monday, shedding nearly 200 points. The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged 730.69 points, or 0.9 per cent, to stand at 80,561.44 points from the previous close of 81,292.13 points at 1:23pm. The index closed at 81,114.20, down by 177.93 points, from the previous close. Awais Ashraf, director research at AKD Securities, noted that the