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Govt in anxiety over rupee’s slide

Pakistan’s bigwigs have failed to craft an effective strategy to stop the free fall of the local currency, as policy discussions have so far remained focused on better management of borders and trade related payments. According to official documents and background discussions with people involved in the process, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has taken numerous meetings in recent days and a

Cement demand to remain depressed

Lacklustre demand for cement, witnessed as part of the recent slowdown, is likely to persist, and as a consequence, apply pressure on the pricing power of cement manufacturers. “As per the data available, around 580,000 houses have been fully damaged due to the floods,” said Waqas Ghani Kukaswadia, Cement Sector Analyst at JS Global in his research report. “As a consequence, demand is to remain

Rate hikes — a double-edged sword for central banks

Central banks worldwide are using aggressive interest rate hikes to lasso galloping inflation, at the risk of pulling down the global economy with it. The US Federal Reserve and its counterparts in Europe and most emerging economies have been raising rates this year as consumer prices have soared to decades-high levels. While higher rates aim to tame runaway inflation by slowing economic act

Hum Network earns Rs1.4bn

Hum Net­work Ltd posted a net consolidated profit of Rs1.39 billion for 2021-22, up 45.1 per cent from the preceding year, a stock filing showed on Monday. The media company’s annual revenue increased 31pc to Rs6.5bn over the same period.The company didn’t announce any dividend along with the financial results. PIBT posts Rs990m loss Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd recorded a ne

Bitcoin falls below $19,000 as cryptos creak under rate hike risk

Cryptocurrencies fell to fresh lows on Monday on regulatory concerns and as investors globally turned shy on risky assets with interest rate rises looming around the world. Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by market value, fell about five per cent to a three-month low of $18,387. Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency, dropped 3pc to a two-month low of $1,285 and is down more than 10pc