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• AGP says IMF worried over delay in audit process• PAEC says purchases made for nuclear power plant were ‘transparent’• Rs312bn fraud foiled, claims Langrial; PAC wonders if FBR operating as ‘private entity’ ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament while examining audit objections concerning the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and Federal Board of Revenue on Wednesday voiced dissatisfaction over systemic and procedural shortcomings resulting in losses worth billions to the exchequer. During the session held under the chairmanship of Junaid Akbar, irregularities amounting to Rs1.15bn were identified in the spot procurement for the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, according…
The sector’s rapid growth is on track to reach 5 percent of GDP two years ahead of scheduleFor the first time in its history, Saudi Arabia’s non-profit sector has exceeded SAR100 billion ($26.7 billion) in economic contribution, accounting for 3.3 percent of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Prospects for the Non-Profit Sector 2025 report by the King Khalid Foundation.The report highlighted key contributions within the sector: Awqaf accounted for SAR48 billion, according to the General Authority for Awqaf, while non-profit organizations contributed SAR47 billion in spending, based on data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).…
WASHINGTON: During his wide-ranging and eventful first speech to Congress, President Trump lashed out at India — among several other countries — for imposing what he called “very unfair” tariffs on American goods, and announced that from April 2, he would respond with reciprocal tariffs. Trump specifically criticised India’s 100pc tariff on American automobiles — grouping it with China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Brazil — all of whom, he claimed, have exploited the US with excessively high tariffs for decades. “Other countries have used tariffs against us for years. Now it’s our turn,” Trump declared. He…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s industrial sector is paying almost double the electricity prices compared to China, India and the United States, and even higher than the European Union, adversely impacting its export competitiveness. According to the latest ‘Electricity 2025 — Analysis & Forecast to 2027’ report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), the average 2024 electricity rates in the United States and India amounted to 6.3 cents each per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 7.7 cents in China, 4.7 cents in Norway and 11.5 cents in the European Union. In comparison, average electricity prices for energy-intensive industries in Pakistan hovered around 13.5 cents per…
KARACHI: The State Bank finds itself in a dilemma over the interest rate as on one hand the business community is clamouring for a cut of 500 basis points in one stroke, but on the other multinational companies are advising caution. According to Ehsan Malik, the CEO of Pakistan Business Council (PBC), “the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank is likely to maintain a cautious approach and leave the policy rate unchanged for now”. Whilst inflation continues to decline, a key consideration is the forward inflation outlook. On this basis the current policy rate stands at 4pc positive,…
Despite claims of selling sugar at discounted rates in Ramazan bazaars, the retail market continues experiencing price manipulations by speculators.—APP KARACHI: The retail price of sugar has surged to Rs170 per kg in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad due to a rise in wholesale rates amid strong demand in Ramazan. Retailers in Karachi feared that the price may hit Rs200 if a bullish trend persists in the wholesale market. However, wholesalers blame millers for increasing the rates. In a week, the wholesale rate swelled by Rs15 to Rs155 per kg in Karachi. Earlier in February, the average national price of sugar…
ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Wednesday expressed concerns about its exclusion from the process of amending the Trade Organisation Act 2013 and urged that the amendments be implemented from 2026. An FPCCI delegation raised this issue in a meeting with Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan. The amendments to the Trade Organisation Act 2013 were enacted on Jan 24 after President Asif Ali Zardari signed the amended bill into law. An official announcement said that Mr Kamal constituted a committee to investigate the issue and reach a consensus. The recommendations of the committee will…
KARACHI: Amid the high possibility of no further cuts in the interest rate, investors made a total of Rs2.207 trillion bids, mostly for the long-term tenors, with no change in the cut-off yields at the treasury bills (T-bills) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) auctions on Wednesday. Announcing the results of the auctions, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that the government raised a total of Rs1.2tr, which reflected a change in investment patterns. With the steep fall of the interest rate from 22 per cent to 12pc in the first seven months of FY25, the banks preferred to park…
KARACHI: After breaking a four-session losing streak overnight, the stock market on Wednesday struggled as investor sentiment remained mixed due to a lack of positive triggers, forcing the benchmark KSE 100 index into the red zone on late profit selling. Topline Securities Ltd said the stock market had a range-bound session, with the benchmark index moving between a high of 583 points and a low of 598 points. It ultimately closed at 112,254 points, marking a decline of 490 points or 0.43 per cent day-on-day. The upward movement was mainly driven by Engro Holdings, Tariq Glass Industries Ltd, Lucky Cement,…
China has vowed to keep its urban jobless rate around 5.5 per cent this year while striving to prevent those at the lowest economic rung of society from falling back into poverty, in an effort to mitigate social-stability risks.The Chinese government wants the economy to create more than 12 million new urban jobs in 2025 while facing “more pronounced structural employment problems”, Premier Li Qiang said in his annual work report to China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, on Wednesday.Meanwhile, the country must “ensure there’s no large-scale relapse into poverty” amid macroeconomic challenges, the report said. President Xi Jinping…