Punjab’s spending plan for the first four months — from July 1 to October 31 — of the next financial year unveiled last week clearly and unmistakably carries PML-N’s signature all over it: a massive development stimulus, a bloated subsidy and social protection programme, and an increase in the pay and pension of government employees. The Rs1.7 trillion expenditures authorised last week by the c
Pakistan has made every effort to secure the last tranche worth $1.1 billion of a $6.5bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan stalled since November last year. It hopes to get the tranche by the end of June, when the loan programme is due to expire. However, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is confident that the country will not default even if the IMF money does not come in. He has told the nation
After revising the budget in line with International Monetary Fund’s demands, the government expects a breakthrough announcement from the global lending agency over the next few days to get direly needed bailout funds. “Almost all the irritants between the IMF staff and the Ministry of Finance were addressed hours before the finance minister’s wind-up speech on Saturday,” an official said, addi
Stock prices oscillated within a narrow band as a lack of triggers failed to excite investors on Thursday. Arif Habib Ltd said the index of representative shares began the day in the green zone but dropped to the red territory in range-bound trading owing to the absence of economic triggers. Investors’ participation remained sideways in the wake of a delayed deal with the International Monet
The World Bank will ease financing for countries hit by natural disasters, it said on Thursday, as the International Monetary Fund announced it had hit its target of making $100 billion in special drawing rights available for vulnerable nations. The two announcements were made at a gathering in Paris of some 40 leaders, including about a dozen from Africa, China’s prime minister and Brazil’s pr