News

Petroleum consumption falls 15pc

The first half of FY24 ended on a dismal note for the petroleum sector due to a 15 per cent drop in sales of petroleum products to 7.686 million tonnes from nine million tonnes in the same period last fiscal year. Petrol sales posted a drop of 7pc to 3.57m tonnes during the July-December period from 3.83m tonnes in the same period of FY23 despite a price drop to Rs267.34 from Rs331.38 per litre

China’s BYD becomes world’s top seller of electric vehicles

Tesla delivered a record number of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, beating market estimates and meeting its 2023 target, but lost its spot as the top EV maker by sales to China’s BYD. Tesla delivered 484,507 EVs in the October-to-December period, falling short of the 526,409 vehicles that Warren Buffett-backed BYD handed over — mostly in China — suggesting that car buyers were looking

Turkiye’s inflation nears 65pc

Turkiye’s annual inflation rate approached 65 per cent in December, reaching a new high for 2023 and putting the country on course to meet an expected peak of 70-75pc in May. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s new team of market-friendly economists expects inflation to start falling from near-record highs within four months. The rate reached a decades-long high of 85pc in October of 2022 and then

Food exports jump 64pc in six months

The agriculture and food exports jumped by 64 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year, helping the country to narrow down its trade deficit. The official data showed the country’s total agriculture and food exports reached $3.847 billion during July-December 2023-24 against $2.345bn in the same period last year, an increase of $1.502bn in absolute terms. The overall merchan

Pakistan’s dollar bonds gain 93pc in 2023

An index on Pakistan’s dollar bonds gained 93 per cent in 2023, the best performance in emerging markets after El Salvador, reported Bloomberg on Wednesday. The agency reported that investors believe Pakistan’s dollar bonds will rally for a second year as the government is expected to secure another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government has recently announced ach