News

Pakistan’s aggregate productivity declining: WB

A new World Bank report says that aggregate productivity in Pakistan has been stagnant or declining during the past decade, mostly driven by firms and farms becoming less productive over time. The World Bank report, titled “From Swimming in Sand to High and Sustai­nable Growth” focuses on growth in Pakistan, and key aspects of its proximate determinants: productivity, capital and talent accumul

SECP enrols 2,434 firms in September

The Secu­rities and Exchange Commi­ssion of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,434 new companies in September, showing a month-on-month increase of 9 per cent. The total number of registered companies now stands at 178,733. The SECP said 55 new companies have foreign investors from Afghanistan, China, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Jor­d­an, Malaysia, Philipp­ines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia

Petrol price may be cut, but diesel to cost more

Despite a 14 per cent appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, the prices of three major petroleum products, including high-speed diesel (HSD), are estimated to go up by Rs5 to 12 per litre and that of petrol to drop by almost Rs11 per litre on Oct 15 for next fortnight if the government maintains existing tax rates. Based on existing tax rates, the ex-depot price of petrol has been estima

IMF team due in November for next review

The Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that it would send a team to Pakistan early next month to start the process for the next review of their current programme. At a media briefing, journalists asked IMF’s Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour if the Fund would reschedule Pakistan’s debt and provide financial relief to the country to help it deal with the c

Pakistan is a difficult market to operate in, says Daraz CEO

Does the founder and group CEO of Daraz, largest player in Pakistan’s ecommerce market of $1.5 billion, think the country is a difficult market to operate in? “Absolutely. I’d say so,” said Bjarke Mikkelsen, who heads the Alibaba-owned ecommerce platform operating in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. In an interview with Dawn during his one-day visit for the inauguration of the coun