A divided house of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Tuesday announced a countrywide strike for July 5 to protest the imposition of 0.5 per cent advance turnover tax in the budget, although the government has conceded its mistake and assured withdrawal of the controversial tax. As a precautionary measure, however, the government on Tuesday directed oil marketing companies (
Pakistan is looking to clinch a staff level agreement on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout of more than $6 billion this month after addressing all of the lender’s requirements in its annual budget, state minister for finance told Reuters. The country has set challenging revenue targets in its annual budget to help it win approval from the IMF for a loan to stave off another economic
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) traded in a narrow band in the outgoing week as investors were worried about the budget measures being debated in the National Assembly, which drove the KSE-100 index down by over 350 points. It came despite optimism over the impending approval of a new and larger International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. It was an eventful week that marked the closure of f
Despite inflicting heavy losses on the economy by keeping interest rate at a record high, the government and the central bank missed the annual inflation target of 21%, which stood at 23.4% in the just-ended fiscal year. As the unbearable inflation in fiscal year 2023-24, which ended on Sunday, was not enough, people were bracing for another round of inflation from Monday in the shape of increa
The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) on Monday unveiled a 10-year cluster-based development plan for growth of the SME sector. Federal Secretary of Industries and Production Dr Fakhar-e-Alam Irfan announced the plan at a ceremony arranged by Smeda to mark the international Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Day. The federal secretary said, “Our nation’s economi