IT is odd that the government has recruited former State Bank governor Reza Baqir as a consultant to work on building its Sovereign Wealth Fund. Baqir has little experience building organisations. Besides, his tenure at the State Bank has left a legion of unanswered questions. Baqir entered the State Bank amid high inflation and an abrupt change of guard at the finance ministry, when Asad Umar
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed 27 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth $2.2 billion in various sectors on Thursday. Last night, a high-powered Saudi delegation led by its Minister for Investment Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh arrived in Islamabad on a three-day official visit. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Al Faleh and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir witnessed th
Saudi Minister for Investment Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh on Thursday confirmed that the kingdom’s Manara Minerals was set to buy a stake in Barrick Gold’s Reko Diq gold and copper mine in the coming weeks. Barrick Gold owns a 50 per cent stake in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine, with the remaining 50pc owned by the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan. Barrick consider
Oil prices jumped about 4 per cent on Thursday on a spike in US fuel use before Hurricane Milton barrelled across Florida, Middle East supply risks and signs that demand for energy could grow in the US and China. Brent futures rose $2.87, or 3.8pc, to $79.45 a barrel by 1:24 p.m. EDT (1724 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.75, or 3.8pc, to $75.99. In the US, the worl
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $106 million to $10.808 billion during the week ending Oct 4, hitting a three-year high, said a press release issued by the central bank on Thursday. The government aims to boost the SBP forex holdings to $13bn by the end of FY25. The reserves of the SBP reached double digits after receiving the first tranche o