Investment bank JPMorgan has called the slump in Pakistan’s bonds to just a third of their face value justified, following the country’s devastating floods and recent warnings by officials that some debt payments may need to be suspended. Finances were already strained before this month’s floods, but the cost of repairing the damage and providing support for those affected have raised fears tha
The government on Wednesday raised Rs853 billion less than the auction target of treasury bills but the cut-off yields were slightly reduced. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported the cut-off yields for the three- and six-month T-bills were reduced by 2 and 1 basis points to 15.72pc and 15.74pc, respectively. Sources in the market said there was no chance for change in returns on T-bills
The amount of outstanding auto loans decreased for the third consecutive month at the end of September, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Wednesday. The outstanding financing for vehicles stood at Rs397.4 billion at the end of last month, down roughly Rs2bn from August. The month-on-month decline becomes more pronounced by excluding the auto loans that banks extende
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said Pakistan needed billions of dollars for rebuilding climate-resilient infrastructure in the aftermath of floods which left over 33 million people without shelter and inundated southern parts of the country. “We are not asking for any kind of measure [such as] a rescheduling or a moratorium,” PM Sharif was quoted by the Financial Times. “We are asking fo
Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) swung to growth in August, posting an annual increase of 0.6 per cent and 3.9pc compared to July, official data showed on Wednesday, suggesting the economy has slightly revived. That was quite an improvement from July, when the LSM shrank 1.4pc year-on-year and 16pc month-on-month. Economists have already raised concerns about an economic slowdown caused by recor