The first month of the new fiscal year saw a surge of 68.72 per cent in the country’s trade deficit with nine neighbouring countries, taking it to $1.041 billion from $0.617bn over the last year. Experts attributed the jump mainly to an increase in imports from China and India. Since the rise in deficit remains unchanged from the previous fiscal year, it may cause big problems for policymake
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Thursday approved exemptions from procurement rules for the execution of a framework agreement with China for the realignment of the $2billion Karakoram Highway (KKH) and the Chakdara-Timergara Highway with South Korea, due to their tied credit. The committee, however, decided to bar foreign-funded projects that lack self-sufficient re
The nexus between power and plots in Pakistan has seriously affected the economy, says Princeton economist Atif Mian, while urging the government to shift its focus from non-reproducible to reproducible factors. In a Thursday commentary on the current economic situation in Pakistan, the Pakistani-American economist warned that the power-plot nexus has led to a high-consumption, low-productivit
The dimmed chances for releasing the first tranche by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board even early next month kept market sentiments depressed, pushing the benchmark index below 78,000 despite a rating upgrade in a volatile session on Wednesday. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the stock market closed lower on a weak economic outlook amid reports of uncertainty o
Traders across major cities of Pakistan observed a shutter-down strike on Wednesday against the government’s much-touted tax reforms, including the Tajir Dost Scheme. In March, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) introduced the ‘Tajir Dost Scheme’ to bring traders and wholesalers into the formal tax structure as required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The move had led to concerns and