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ISLAMABAD: Directorate General of Customs Valuation Karachi has fixed new Customs values on the import of 104 types of branded chocolates imported from all origins. The directorate has issued a new valuation ruling (1980 of 2025) on Monday to upward revise values of branded chocolates for assessment of duties and taxes at the import stage. The Customs values have been revised on the import of a wide verity of chocolate brands including Kit Kat Bars/wafers, Mars, Bounty, Snickers, Alprose Swiss Butter, Cadbury (Various Flavors/Blends), Galaxy (Various Flavors/Blends), Galaxy Jewels Chocolates, After Eight, Lindt, Belgian Chocolate, M&M Chocolate Beans (Various Packings),…

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan’s largest exploration and production company, has announced a significant gas and condensate discovery at its Soghri North-1 well in the Soghri Block, located in the Attock district of Punjab. According to a news release, OGDCL is the sole of the Soghri Exploration License, with a 100% working interest. The Soghri North-1 well was spudded on May 21, 2024, as part of OGDCL’s ongoing commitment to exploring Pakistan’s hydrocarbon potential. Drilled to a total depth of 4,942 meters in the Patala Formation, the well underwent extensive testing. Based on wireline log interpretation,…

KARACHI: Pakistan’s current account showed significant improvement, recording a $0.7 billion surplus in the first eight months of FY25, driven by a rise in home remittance inflows. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), despite a monthly deficit in February 2025, the cumulative current account balance for July to February remains in surplus. Pakistan recorded a current account surplus of $691 million in July-Feb of FY25 as against $1.73 billion deficit in same period of last fiscal year (FY24). Pressures on the external account have emerged due to rising imports amid weak financial inflows, resulting in a monthly current…

China’s state statistics agency has introduced a new data series on “service robots” in its monthly industrial output report, in addition to the existing “industrial robots” category, offering a clearer view of the country’s growing robotics industry.While China is already the world’s leading industrial robot market, accounting for over half of global installations, the country’s service robot sector – including professional, consumer, and medical robots – is also rapidly expanding, fuelled by the rise of start-ups such as Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics and Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics.According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, the output of…

As a growing trade surplus highlights the need for China to boost its domestic demand, scholars at a Peking University seminar suggested enhancing the country’s social safety net and increasing investment in public service to build a foundation for higher consumption.Beijing has unveiled several initiatives to encourage demand, including a 30-point plan published on Sunday, to counteract tariffs and export restrictions levied by the US to correct the surplus its president and other officials have labelled as unfair.To address the imbalance in trade, “the ultimate solution is to boost domestic demand and consumption,” said Lu Feng, a professor of economics…

International benchmark Brent rallied in European trade on Monday to two-week highs, expanding gains for the second session after the US launched air strikes on the Houthi group in Yemen.   Sources said the operation against Houthis could carry on for weeks, which could impact navigation through the Red Sea.   Prices   Brent rose 1.8% today to $71.76 a barrel, the highest since March 3, with a session-low at $70.51.   Brent rose 0.6% on Friday, the third profit in four days away from four-year lows at $68.37.   Global oil prices rose 0.25% last week, the first weekly…

China’s economy is set to slow further as a result of new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, with global repercussions, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday.According to the OECD’s latest outlook, the Chinese economy will likely grow by 4.8 per cent this year before slowing to a 4.4 per cent clip in 2026. The organisation attributed part of the deceleration to the 20-percentage-point increase in tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese imports, which has triggered retaliatory action by Beijing.Escalating tensions between the world’s two largest economies have elicited global concerns, with several experts…

Pakistan’s Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), a measure of the value of a currency against a weighted average of several foreign currencies, dropped to 102.27 in February 2025, down from 104.06 (revised) in January 2025, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday showed. A REER above 100 means the country’s exports are uncompetitive, while imports are cheaper. The situation reverses when REER is below 100 on the index. As per SBP’s latest data, the REER depreciated 1.72% month-on-month (MoM) in February 2025. When compared with February 2024, the REER value increased by 0.07%, when it stood…

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market moves: The S & P 500 was higher Monday. That would put the broad market index on track for its first back-to-back positive sessions since Feb. 18 and 19, the latter of which was the last time it closed at an all-time high. The bounce Monday comes despite weakness across the “Magnificent Seven.” Five of the seven constituents were lower, with Tesla leading to the downside. Microsoft and Apple were in…

The United States is facing a critical shortage of skilled workers, particularly in STEM fields. The country is expected to need around 1 million additional STEM professionals between 2023 and 2033, with tech job growth outpacing the overall workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To fill this gap, the H-1B visa program, established in 1990, has been pivotal, allowing U.S. businesses to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialized fields. Employers and immigration attorneys petition for the visas on behalf of the foreign workers. Congress set a cap on the program of 65,000 visas annually, plus 20,000 additional visas for…