News

Deepening crises

How bad will things get? What happens next? It is the question everyone is asking in the country following the assassination attempt on Imran Khan in Wazirabad last week as the former prime minister was leading his protest march on Islamabad to force early elections in the country. He and his party quickly blamed the shooting on an alleged conspiracy between the government and the military. Spo

Should share buybacks be taxed?

WhatsApp groups are abuzz with speculations about the possibility of a tax on share buybacks — an increasingly popular practice that lets listed companies purchase their own shares on the stock exchange to improve their market value. Firms that carried out share buybacks recently or are currently conducting the exercise include Netsol Technologies Ltd, Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd, Lucky Cemen

Exports of services grew 4.6pc in July-September

Service exports grew 4.63 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, mainly driven by information technology. In absolute terms, exports rose to $1.69 billion in July-September from $1.61bn a year ago, according to the latest data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In September, the export of services dipped by 1.73pc to $565.96m from $575.94m in the same month las

Incoming inflows yet to trigger rupee turnaround

The dollar remained unchanged at Rs227.75 on Saturday in the open market, unmoved by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s guarantee a day ago that the country had secured about $13 billion in additional financial support from two friendly countries, on top of assurances for about $20bn investments. However, dealers in the open market hoped the rupee would gain strength once the inflows began to land in

Elon Musk updates Twitter app to start charging $8 for blue checkmark

Twitter on Saturday updated its app in Apple's App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, in Elon Musk’s first major revision of the social media platform. The change comes a week after Musk took over the social media company in a $44 billion deal. The billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of electric car maker Tesla (TSLA.O) cut half the staff at Twitter and h