As the spectre of a deadlier conflict in the Middle East looms following the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran, with potentially horrific consequences for people and economies worldwide, Pakistan continues to grapple with its own set of challenges. Though not immune to the unsettling developments in the Middle East, brokerage houses foresee better times ahead for Pakistan, which has long been t
The salaried class emerged as the third-largest contributor to income tax collection in the outgoing fiscal year (FY24), following closely behind banks and petroleum products, and still surpassing the country’s affluent textile exporters. The banking sector contributed Rs946.08 billion to income tax collection in FY24, a significant 66 per cent increase, from Rs568.68bn in FY23. This represents
Overshadowed by geopolitics but finally overtaken by weak fundamentals, it has been a week of turmoil in the global oil markets. After a soft beginning to the week with oil prices edging lower, prices spiked by almost four per cent in the immediate aftermath of the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. This coupled with the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Bei
At a time when the Shehbaz Sharif government is struggling to make a strategic shift from imported coal for electricity generation to Thar coal, the recent National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) decision to revise upwards the total project cost and tariff of the proposed 300 megawatt Gwadar power project based on imported coal is quite surprising. The proposed shift from imported
In July 2024, the first month of the new fiscal year FY25, Pakistan’s trade deficit soared 19.7 per cent to $1.9 billion as imports grew much faster than exports. Month-on-month national consumer inflation in July hit an eight-month high of 2.1pc, when it is generally around 1pc. Imports will surely continue to expand throughout this fiscal year and exports’ growth will likely remain slower tha