Pakistan’s central bank is scheduled to announce its key policy rate for the next seven weeks on upcoming Monday. A majority of pundits have developed consensus that the bank will leave the rate unchanged at 15% in order to wait for the stabilisation of economy. However, a significant section of market participants did not rule out a reduction of 25-50 basis points, considering a fall in inflat
Pakistan on Saturday assured the World Bank to timely implement prior actions for over $1 billion budget support loans amid the country's inability to create consensus among all the domestic stakeholders and narrowing political space to take difficult steps. The assurance has been given by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar two days before his departure to Washington, where he is expected to participat
Pakistan, speaking for the Group of 77 (developing countries) and China, has called for a clear roadmap to overcome the recent series of “shocks” to the world economy, including the deadly coronavirus pandemic and the spike in commodities prices, that have disproportionately impacted the poorest countries. “The unequal impacts have been accompanied by a deficit in solidarity – as visible on vac
Some government high-ups are allegedly exercising their influence to clear the way for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to enhance its capacity, a move that may spark some controversy. Engro Elengy Terminal Private Limited (EETPL) is making efforts to replace its existing Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU), which handles LNG imports, with a bigger one to enhance its handling ca
The stock market continued its upward trend in the outgoing week as China agreed to refinance a $2.24 billion loan while the government engaged in talks with China over the rolling over of its $2bn deposits. Arif Habib Ltd said the shrinking of the trade deficit by 21.4 per cent on an annual basis to $9.2bn helped the index sustain momentum during the outgoing week. Furthermore, the rupee ap