Pakistan received only about $9.8 billion in foreign loans and grants in the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year, far behind the annual target of $17.4bn, amid major slippages in raising international financial support. The disbursements appeared to be slowing down as the country received less than $204 million in foreign loans in March compared to $318m in February, a
In a landmark development, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has signed a collaborative understanding with LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) on Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG). Under this mutual understanding, both companies will work to develop a suite of standardised ESG data tools for PSX-listed companies to report their ESG data, according to a PSX press statement. This understan
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday rose to a fresh record high during the corporate earnings announcement season, fueled by robust financial results and anticipation ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) monetary policy announcement on April 29. In the morning, trading commenced at the intra-day low of 70,882.44 points, but soon the KSE-100 index recovered and moved upwards. The posi
In March 2024, ICT services export remittances surged to $306 million, a remarkable increase of 36% compared to $225 million in March 2023. “This is the highest ever export number in a single month, with the previous highest being $303mn in December 2023. The YoY jump in IT exports is due to firstly, relaxation in the permissible retention limit by the SBP, increasing it from 35% to 50% in the
Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) has become the first victim of smuggled petroleum products as the refinery on Monday shut down its main distillation unit, reducing its capacity to only 33%, owing to the piling up of unsold diesel stocks. Oil industry sources warned that other refineries were also likely to close their units if the unbridled smuggling of petroleum products was not stopped. Oil