After challenging the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) decision on the interest-free banking system some four months ago, the government had a major change of heart on Wednesday, saying that it now wants to rid the country of Riba as soon as possible. In a pre-recorded video message, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP)
The stock market opened the week in green owing to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement last week that Pakistan had secured about $13 billion in additional financial support from China and Saudi Arabia, analysts said. The benchmark KSE-100 index started gaining immediately after trading opened, rising to an intraday high of 351.11 points, or 0.84 per cent, around 10am. However, the market
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
Inflows under Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs) — a banking facility reserved for non-resident Pakistanis — clocked in at $146 million in October, a decline of 13.1 per cent compared to last month’s $168m and the lowest since December 2020, according to data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).In December 2020, inflows had amounted to $140m. Meanwhile, 13,850 new accounts were opened in Oct
The World Bank (WB) has agreed to provide more than $3 billion to Pakistan for infrastructure development in the energy sector, according to a press release issued by the Power Division on Monday. The international lender will also provide assistance in the Dasu hydropower project. “The World Bank is assisting in energy efficiency and conservation programmes, apart from helping provinces in ins