News

Govt nixes circular debt return plan

The government has shot down a proposal to reduce electricity prices by about Rs4 per unit by retiring Rs1.8 trillion worth of circular debt through raising public debt – in a move that underscores limited options for providing any substantial relief to consumers. The only success that the government has so far achieved is the reduction of 60 paisa per unit by terminating the contracts of five

PSX sees profit-taking on political noise after record-high bull run in intraday trade

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw profit-taking around mid-day on political noise after climbing more than 800 points in early morning trade on Wednesday in its historic bull run. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 847.17 points, or 0.88 per cent, to stand at 96,703.83 from the previous close of 95,856.66 points at 10:57am. However, the index closed in the red, decreasing by 310.

Is the economy improving?

IT has now become a routine question. Every TV anchor and people I meet in any gathering all want to know: is it true that the economy is ‘improving’? The short, and best, answer here is ‘yes and no’. Yes, because the deficits that plagued it have been plugged. No, because growth remains a far-off dream. The proper term to use is ‘the economy is stabilising’, but it is not yet, and will not be

SBP event showcases how well women leaders ‘get’ finance

“Don’t marry off your girls till they are financially independent,” says screenwriter Zanjabeel Asim Shah — a fairly revolutionary statement in a society where sons have careers and daughters are mostly to be married off. Celebrating Women’s Entrepre­neur­­ship Day, the State Bank of Pakistan invited women leaders, who narrated their success stories, along with a healthy dose of pragmatism. The

Japan ramps up tech ambitions with $65bn for AI, chips

Japan is readying a $65-billion push in microchips and artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at reclaiming its status as a global tech leader and meeting the urgent challenges of its ageing, shrinking population. The 10-trillion-yen package, which lawmakers could approve this week, is also seen as preparation for an uncertain world as fears grow of a potential Chinese invasion of chip powerhouse T