KARACHI, Nov 17(ABC): Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) surged by $3 million to $7.96 billion as of November 11, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday. Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves stand at $13.8 billion, while net foreign reserves with commercial banks clocked in at $5.84 billion. “During the week …

Nov 17(ABC): The United States announced on Thursday that a total of $135 million had been raised as funding to combat global fertiliser shortages and food insecurity in low- and middle-income countries, according to a US Department of State press release. In a tweet, the US Embassy in Islamabad announced that the United States plans to provide support to Pakistan …

KARACHI, Nov 17(ABC): Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities have climbed by Rs12 trillion or 23.7% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, with analysts saying a delay in loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and devaluation of the rupee pushed the numbers up significantly. The debt and liabilities stood at Rs62.46 trillion in July-September FY2023, compared with Rs50.49 trillion …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (ABC): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, here, on Wednesday expressed the government’s resolve to provide housing facilities to low and middle-income groups at affordable prices. Chairing a meeting on ‘Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar’ (MPMG) Scheme at the finance division, the minister advised the relevant authorities to work out at feasible proposals; address …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (ABC): Pakistani Rupee on Wednesday depreciated by 50 paisa against the US dollar in the interbank trading to close at Rs 222.41 against the previous day’s closing of Rs 221.91. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of the US dollar in the open market were recorded at Rs 225.4 and …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16(ABC): November 2022: Tobacco Health Levy Bill is ready to be presented in parliament and its immediate implementation can generate 60 Billion Rupee revenue for government. This revenue can help in reducing the damage caused by tobacco industry to health and economy. These views were agreed upon during a briefing organized by Society for Protection of Rights of …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (ABC): The price of 24 karat per tola gold witnessed an increase of Rs 1,850 on Wednesday as it was sold at Rs 158,850 against its sale at Rs157,000 the previous day. The price of 10 gram 24 karat also increased by Rs 1,586 and was sold at Rs 136,188 against Rs 134,602, whereas that of 10 …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (ABC): The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday turned around to bullish trend and gained 186.90 points, a positive change of 0.44 percent, closing at 42,983.75 against 42,796.85 points on the last working day. A total of 186,709,771 shares were traded during the day as compared to 188,664,158 shares the previous day, whereas the …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (ABC): US Ambassador Donald Blome and Minister of State for Finance, Revenue, Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha on Wednesday formally launched a United States government-led initiative to enhance US-Pakistan bilateral trade. The United States has long been Pakistan’s largest export market, with potential for further growth, said a news release from the embassy of the US in Pakistan. …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (ABC): Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Wednesday said that in the wake of the growing impacts of climate change, Pakistan’s biggest challenge was to adapt the agriculture sector to climate change to ensure food security and boost the country’s economic growth. “We can build the infrastructures and dams with such specifications that can …

Nov 16(ABC): Negotiations over the next tranche in the extended fund facility for Pakistan by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are expected to commence before the end of November. This was confirmed on Wednesday by senior officials of the Federal Finance Ministry who had intricate knowledge of the developments. The officials however, requested not to be named because they were …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16(ABC): Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq here on Wednesday appreciated the World Bank (WB) for its decades-long assistance, which he said had played and would continue to play a vital role in the socio-economic uplift of Pakistan. The minister was talking to Regional Director for the WB South Asia, Sustainable Development (SD), John A. Roome …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16(ABC): The ruling coalition’s economic team on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of imposing additional taxes citing the shortfall in tax collection due to the flood-hit economy, reported. Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Asim Ahmed and State Minister for Finance Aisha Ghous Pasha briefed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, during which it …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 15(ABC): Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Monday presided over the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee in the federal’s capital. The ECC approved the Kissan package as proposed by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research submitted on Kissan Package-2022. Inter-alia the package includes, enhancement of agriculture loan disbursement from 1,419 billion to 1,802 billion, reduction …

BEIJING, Nov 15(ABC): China’s factory output grew more slowly and retail sales fell in October, the latest sign that the world’s second-largest economy is losing momentum as it struggles with protracted COVID-19 curbs and a property downturn. Property investment also fell at a faster pace in the January-October period, pointing to further weakness in a key pillar of China’s economy. …

NEW YORK, Nov 15(ABC): Amazon is preparing to lay off as many as 10,000 employees, The New York Times reported on Monday, making the e-commerce behemoth the latest tech giant to unleash a large-scale redundancy plan. This would represent a little less than one percent of the group´s total payroll, which had 1.54 million employees worldwide at the end of …

KARACHI, Nov 15(ABC):  The gas crisis seems to have worsened in Karachi as the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) halted gas supply to industries across the city. “In adherence to the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) gas load management plan, that places domestic and commercial customers on top of the priority list, it has been decided to suspend gas supply …

KARACHI, Nov 15(ABC): Pakistan’s five-year credit default swap — used to insure against restructuring or default — has sharply widened as investors become wary of the country’s ability to meet its bond obligations, The News reported Tuesday. On November 11 (Friday), the CDS increased by 394 basis points (bps) day-on-day to 64.19%, according to data from Arif Habib Limited. The CDS has surged …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14 (ABC): The sale of cars during the first four months of current fiscal year 2022-23, has dropped by 47.03 percent as compared to the same quarter of last year, a latest data released by Pakistan Automobile Manufacturing Association (PAMA) on Wednesday. According to the data, as many as 39,700 cars were sold during the period under review …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14 (ABC): The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday witnessed a bearish trend, losing 242.12 points, a negative change of 0.56 percent, closing at 42,850.83 against 43,092.95 points on the last working day. A total of 185,537,940 shares were traded during the day as compared to 232,788,982 shares the previous day, whereas the price of …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14 (ABC): The ongoing rains would positively impact all seasonal major and minor crops, fruits and vegetables, agricultural experts said here Monday. They were of the view that the rains would particularly be most beneficial for wheat, which is major cash crop of the season and a mega source to fulfill the domestic requirements of staple food in …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14 (ABC): Pakistani Rupee on Monday depreciated by 04 paisa against the US dollar in the interbank trading to close at Rs 221.68 against the previous day’s closing of Rs 221.64. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of the US dollar in the open market were recorded at Rs 225.6 and …

Nov 12(ABC): The central bank on Saturday filed in the Supreme Court an application to withdraw its applications against the verdict of the Federal Sharia Court directing to make the banking system in the country Islamic within five years. Filed through Syed Rafaqat Hussain Shah, the application to withdraw the Civil Sharia Appeal read that no date had been fixed …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 12 (ABC):Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held meetings in Dubai with management of the leading commercial banks, which deal commercially with Pakistan and Ministry of Finance. These banks including Dubai Islamic Bank, Ajman Bank and Emirates NBD, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance on Saturday. The commercial banks reposed their …

LAHORE, Nov 12 (ABC):President Dr Arif Alvi has said there is a need to ensure strictness against tax evasion and tax collecting authorities must create easiness for taxpayers. He said this while addressing a Public Awareness Seminar on Wafaqi Tax Mohtasib at the Governor’s House here on Saturday. To creat awareness among people regarding the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) initiatives …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 12 (ABC):Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Cultural Heritage Aziz Abduhakimov said the direct air flight between Pakistan and Uzbekistan will be started soon which would promote bilateral economic and tourism ties. In the first phase, the flight will be started from the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan to Lahore, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 12(ABC): The price of 24 karat per tola gold witnessed an increase of Rs 500 on Saturday as it was sold at Rs155,900 against its sale at Rs155,400, the previous day. The price of 10 gram 24 karat also increased by Rs 430 and was sold at Rs 133,660 against Rs133,230; whereas that of 10 gram 22 karat …

BEIJING, Nov 12(ABC): Pakistan’s sesame seed export to China surged to $ 59.09 million in the first nine months of the current year 2022, showing a growth of 50 percent on a year-on-year basis, according to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC). The data received by Pakistan from the General Administration of Customs of …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (ABC):The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 2,361 new companies during the month of  October, showing an increase of 17 percent as compared to the registration of last month.  The total number of registered companies was recorded at 180,996, whereas foreign investment has been reported in 77 new companies, said a press release issued …

LAHORE, Nov 11 (ABC): The Federal Board of Revenue has urged the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry to ask its members to submit their tax returns on time as filing of tax return this year is far lower as compared to the previous year.Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Member Public Relations, Federal Board of Revenue …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (ABC): The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended on November 10 for the combined consumption group witnessed an increase of 0.74 percent as compared to the previous week. The SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 216.48 points against 214.88 points registered in the previous week, …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (ABC): Pakistani Rupee on Friday depreciated by 22 paisa against the US dollar in the interbank trading to close at Rs 221.64 against the previous day’s closing of Rs 221.42. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of the US dollar in the open market were recorded at Rs 225.5 and …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (ABC): Minister of State for Finance Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha wowed on Friday to give exemplary punishment to the commercial bank who were over charging on Letter of Credits (LCs) payments. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue the minister of state said that the banks responsible for over charging would be fined heavily so …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (ABC): Pakistan Single Window (PSW) and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further expand their partnership for trade facilitation through the integration of cross-border business processes. The integration of DRAP systems under PSW would provide the electronic submission, processing and issuance of licenses, imported products including drugs, …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (ABC): Minister for Power Engineer Khurram Dastgir on Friday said the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) would be installed by end of the current fiscal year and it would help overcome the power losses in the country. Responding questions at the floor of National Assembly, he said that this system was being used in developed countries and it …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (ABC): The World Bank (WB)  Thursday expressed satisfaction over the progress of the Pakistan Raises Revenue Program (PRRP), which is aimed at broadening tax-base and domestic revenues, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said. “Based on initial findings the World Bank has expressed overall satisfaction with the progress of the Project due to major reforms in simplifying tax …

BEIJING, Nov 10 (ABC): In a move to better investigate and research lithium reserves in Pakistan, a strategic agreement was signed between the China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences and Tianqi Lithium Co. at an international conference on lithium battery industry held in Sichuan China, as per a statement by the China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences. The …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (ABC): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $15 million technical assistance programme, supported by ADB’s funds and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), to develop projects that promote climate change adaptation and mitigation in Southeast Asia. The new programme, which was announced at the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27), would help countries to mobilize …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (ABC): President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Lin Songtian said that China would help Pakistan through infrastructure development, industrialization and capacity building of youth. He made these remarks while addressing a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad on Thursday. President of CPAFFC Lin Songtian, highlighting the China- Pakistan exemplary …

KARACHI, Nov 10 (ABC): Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (MOITT), Syed Amin ul Haque, on Thursday, said that government was focused on promotion of research and development activities for encouragement of entrepreneurship in the country. He was addressing distribution ceremony of the 1st Hameed and Azra Awards in the field of Quality Academic Research in Pakistan held here …