Apart from the bluster we saw in the first few days after he took control, we have heard little from Ishaq Dar even though the economy remains trapped in the throes of a storm of near Homeric proportions. Last month, prices continued to rise at a breakneck pace, draining household budgets at rates not seen in decades. It is becoming a real challenge for many just to put food on the table, not t
The World Bank has signed two agreements with the government to extend $500 million worth of two separate loans to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Economic Affairs Division in a statement said on Wednesday that World Bank’s Country Director Najy Benhassine and Dr Kazim Niaz, Secretary EAD signed the financing agreements on behalf of the respective sides. The loans pertained to Punjab Resi
The Federal Reserve delivered another steep interest rate increase on Wednesday, as expected, with its move to cool red-hot inflation taking on more weight amid the political maelstrom ahead of key US midterm elections. With high inflation squeezing American families of all political stripes, President Joe Biden faces a battle to avoid losing control of both chambers of Congress. The Fed’s a
The downward trend in Pakistan merchandise export proceeds continued for the second consecutive month, raising fears about the closure of industrial units across the country, suggested provisional data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released on Wednesday. The country’s exports shrank 3.77 per cent in October to $2.37 billion from $2.64bn in the corresponding month last year. On a month-on
Afghanistan registered a trade surplus of $79 million with Pakistan, one of its largest trading partners, from July 2021 to June 2022, according to the latest report by an official US monitoring agency, known as SIGAR. The report — prepared for the US Congress by the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) — noted that Afghanistan’s currency, the Afghani,