Pakistan’s merchandise exports rose 10.54 per cent to $30.64 billion in 2023-24 from $27.72bn in the preceding year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday. Exports increased steadily from July 2023 until they turned negative in January. This negative trend persisted until April. After a temporary setback, growth regained momentum in May and continued i
The country is confronting its highest-ever inflation, but the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday that raw food exports increased by 37 per cent in FY24 over the preceding fiscal year. The value of raw food exports reached $8 billion in 2023-24, up from $5.8bn over the corresponding period last year, according to the data compiled by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP). As
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