News

Oil import bill falls to $11.9bn

Pakis­tan’s oil import bill decreased 1.19 per cent to $11.94 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year against $12.08 billion over the corresponding months of last year. The imports gradually dec­lined over the past few months before posting a negative growth, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In stark contrast, the import of machinery grew 1

Record $1.2bn surplus in March

Pakistan recorded its highest-ever monthly current account surplus in March, with a surplus of $1.195 billion compared to $363 million in the same month last year, the State Bank data showed on Thursday. The March surplus accounted for the largest share of the $1.859bn total surplus posted during the July-March period of the ongoing fiscal year. The previous month also witnessed a historic i

IMF sees global growth hurt by trade tensions

Rising trade tensions and sweeping shifts in the global trading system will trigger downward revisions of the International Monetary Fund’s economic forecasts but no global recession is expected, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. Georgieva said countries’ economies were being tested by a reboot of the global trading system — sparked in recent months by US tariffs and

K-Electric comes under fire on Rs76bn write-offs

Industrial and political representatives from Karachi have called for forensic audit of almost Rs76 billion write-off claims made by K-Electric unrecoverable from consumers since 2017 and announced that its recovery through tariff from consumers would be resisted through all constitutional means. At a public hearing organised by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursd

Fresh expressions of interest for PIA

The Pakistani government will seek expressions of interest (EoIs) next week for the sale of Pakistan International Airlines, the privatisation ministry said on Thursday, days after it reported its first annual profit in over two decades. Pakistan has been seeking to sell a 51-100 per cent stake in the debt-ridden carrier, to raise funds and reform cash-draining, state-owned enterprises as envis