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The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) has refuted recent reports which claimed that medicine prices in Pakistan had increased by 15 times in just five years. “This is absolutely an incorrect news,” PPMA chairman Tauqeer Ul Haq said while speaking to Business Recorder. “The government increased essential medicine prices only one time in the past three years,” he maintained. The development comes after the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) launched a report titled ‘Health of the Nation 2024’, which led to reports that drug prices had been increased 15 times by successive goverments in just five years. Pakistan’s pharma sector warns…

Dubai-based Parkin, which operates public parking spaces in the emirate and which went public last year, posted a Q4 2024 net profit of AED 120 million ($32.7 million), up 13% year-on-year. “In our first year as a publicly listed company, Parkin has made remarkable progress to meet its financial, strategic and social ambitions,” said Ahmed Bahrozyan, Chairman of Parkin’s Board of Directors. “With our city’s accelerating economic growth, population expansion and record tourism in 2024, I am confident in Parkin’s future outlook and our ability to deliver another strong performance in 2025,” he added. With Dubai Taxi Company and Parkin,…

KARACHI: K-Electric (KE) welcomes the Federal Tax Ombudsman’s (FTO) recent decision affirming the company’s full compliance with prescribed laws on sales tax implementation. This underscores KE’s adherence to best financial and business practices in line with regulatory requirements. The decision also highlights KE as the power distribution company in Pakistan that had proactively implemented the correct tax treatment, charging and depositing the sales tax and income tax on gross electricity supply, as per the prescribed laws. This comes at a time when strengthening national revenue collection remains a priority. Earlier this week, the FTO raised issue of different treatment by…

ISLAMABAD: Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Limited’s ports subsidiary plans to invest $1 billion to upgrade its operations in Pakistan, its Finance Ministry said on Friday. “Hutchison Ports presented their upcoming investment plan of $1 billion, aimed at upgrading their existing terminals to enhance operational efficiency, logistics connectivity, and automation,” the ministry said in a statement. No timeframe was provided for the proposed investment. e-Trucks into operations: Hutchison Ports leads with investment in green port operations The investment is expected to generate at least $4 billion in revenue over the next 25 years through royalty, rent, and tax contributions,…

KARACHI: Interest rates may see another reduction in the upcoming monetary policy, with market sources suggesting a potential cut ranging from 50 to 100 basis points, according to surveys. Research houses conducted the surveys to gauge market expectations in light of the 2-3 per cent main inflation expected in February this year. However, the surveys revealed a divided opinion, with the majority anticipating a rate cut to be announced in the next monetary policy meeting, scheduled for March 10. In a poll conducted by Topline Securities, market participants held varying views: 38pc believe the rates will remain unchanged, while 62pc…

Tom Espiner, Faarea Masud and Sean DilleyBBC BusinessGetty ImagesExpansion at Gatwick Airport has moved a step closer after the government gave the plan its tentative backing. On the surface Gatwick’s plans look relatively straightforward.In contrast to Heathrow, which wants to bulldoze houses and reroute the M25, Gatwick is proposing to shift an already existing runway just 12 metres north, and bring it into regular use.Yet it still may not happen for years, or may not happen at all.How did we get here?Gatwick officially opened as an airport in 1958. It had one runway and an additional taxi-way, that was expanded…

A customer shops for produce at an H-E-B grocery store on Feb. 12, 2025 in Austin, Texas.Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesEarly economic data for the first quarter of 2025 is pointing towards negative growth, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta measure.The central bank’s GDPNow tracker of incoming metrics is indicating that gross domestic product is on pace to shrink by 1.5% for the January-through-March period, according to an update posted Friday morning.Fresh indicators showed that consumers spent less than expected during the inclement January weather and exports were weak, which led to the downgrade. Prior to Friday’s consumer…

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: Wall Street is attempting to rebound Friday, but policy uncertainty in Washington continued to get in the way. A midday pullback in stocks occurred in reaction to a fiery conversation in the Oval Office between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy . However, stocks managed to bounce back. Thursday’s midday jolt came when Trump put firm dates on more tariffs. Meanwhile, we got…

Nvidia was trying to make a stand. But one look at the artificial intelligence chipmaker’s stock chart over the past six weeks shows you what the Club stock up against. Nvidia’s early gains Thursday quickly reversed — and after President Donald Trump ‘s tariff announcement, Nvidia shares started to really fall. By the end of the day, it had really fallen off a cliff, losing 8.5% in the session following a strong quarter on Wednesday night. The decline was so severe that Nvidia exited the $3 trillion market capitalization club, now solely occupied by Apple after Microsoft ‘s own issues…

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Friday’s key moments. 1. Stocks are trying to stabilize after Thursday’s sell-off pushed the S & P 500 into negative territory for the year. After a weak open, all major indices are now up 0.5% Friday. Helping the rebound is an in-line personal consumption expenditures index (PCE) reading, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge and influences its next interest rate moves. January’s PCE rose 0.3% for the month and 2.6% year over year. The Fed likely…