Istanbul, Sept 22 (ABC): Turkey’s central bank on Thursday cut its policy rate for the second straight month despite an annual inflation rate that has reached 80 percent and still moving higher. The central bank said it was cutting its one-week repo rate to 12 percent from 13 percent and attributed skyrocketing consumer prices on external factors such as the …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (ABC): The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) lost 37.63 points on Thursday, a negative change of 0.09 percent, closing at 40,927.95 against 40,965.58 points on the last working day. A total of 190,091,596 shares were traded during the day compared to 170,416,593 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs.6.322 billion …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (ABC): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million results-based loan to help strengthen the quality of secondary healthcare in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The programme will help improve the delivery of health services at secondary hospitals by modernizing infrastructure and equipment; ensuring clinical protocols, standards, and guidelines are implemented; and improving human resources …

London, Sept 22 (ABC): The Bank of England hiked its interest rate again on Thursday to combat soaring inflation as it warned that the UK’s economy had already slipped into recession. The BoE’s decision caps a busy week for central banks as its peers in the United States and elsewhere in Europe further tightened their own monetary policies in global …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (ABC): The current account deficit shrank to $0.7 billion in August compared to $1.2 billion in July 2022, largely reflecting a continued moderation in overall imports, a data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. Cumulatively, in Jul-Aug of current fiscal year (FY23), Current Account Deficit (CAD) declined by $0.5 billion to $1.9 billion …

Tokyo, Sept 22 (ABC): Japan’s finance ministry said Thursday it intervened in the currency market to bolster the yen, which has plummeted against the dollar in recent months on the widening policy gap between the US and Japanese central banks. It was the first government intervention to prop up the currency since 1998 and came after the dollar neared 146 …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 21 (ABC): Pakistan’s economy is forecast to slow to 3.5 percent in fiscal year 2023 amid devastating floods, policy tightening, and critical efforts to tackle sizable fiscal and external imbalances, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report released Wednesday. The slowdown has been predicted even as growth in FY2022 is expected to have reached 6.0%. According …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 21 (ABC): Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said that the government was ensuring to clearly define the key performance indicators (KPIs) of each social sector uplift projects. He said that the government initiated these programs under its Public Sector Development Program to achieve desired results of sustainable socio-economic prosperity in the …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 21 (ABC):Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jemal Beker Abdula, has said his country is keen to further strengthen trade ties with Pakistan by establishing institutional linkages between the two states. In a meeting with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Director General (Islamabad) Muhammad Naseer, the envoy underlined the need to sign accords between the trading organizations of …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 20(ABC): Asian Development Bank (ADB), will soon provide Pakistan with a significant relief and rehabilitation package, to repair the infrastructure and help livelihood. On short and medium-term basis, the bank would use ongoing projects to repair damaged infrastructure, including roads and irrigation infrastructure and support the development and financial stability of the agriculture sector to boost food security. …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 20(ABC): The tea imports witnessed a decrease of 10.86 percent during the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding month of last year. The tea imports during July-August (2022-23) were recorded at $91.914 million against the imports of $103.116 million during July-August (2021-22), according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). …

KARACHI, Sep 20(ABC): Gold recovered some of its recent losses on Tuesday, despite a firmer dollar and increasing fears about an oversized rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. Data released by the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association (APSGJA) showed that the precious metal rose Rs400 per tola and Rs343 per 10 grams to settle at Rs155,100 and …

KARACHI, Sep 20(ABC): The Pakistani rupee slid for the 13th straight session against the US dollar on Tuesday, as despite assurances from the government, the market’s perception about the local unit remains undeterred, with deadly floods disrupting economic activity in the country. The unprecedented floods have killed more than 1,500, affected 33 million people, and led to a hit of at …

KARACHI, Sep 20(ABC): Selling pressure continued to dominate trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index extended losses from the previous session and recorded a decline of nearly 300 points. A lack of positive triggers and the continuous depreciation of the Pakistani rupee forced investors to take a cautious stance and they resorted to profit-taking. Earlier, …

Sep 20(ABC): Faced with a shortage of fodder due to floods, cattle farmers in villages in Pakistan’s Sindh province said on Monday that they were struggling to keep their remaining livestock alive. The catastrophic floods have submerged huge swathes of Pakistan and damaged crops that were used as feed for their cattle. Officials estimate about 700,000 cattle have been lost in the …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 20(ABC):  The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has jacked up valuation rates of properties in over 20 cities ranging between 10%-30% on average and also included certain rural areas to bring them at par with the DC rates during the current fiscal year. Under the World Bank (WB) loan of $400 million titled “Pakistan Raises Revenue (PRR)”, the …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 20(ABC): With the winter season looming, the entry of the private sector into importing and selling one LNG cargo a month under third-party access (TPA) rules has landed in the red zone as an agreement about the utilisation of the excess capacity of 100 mmcfd available at LNG Terminal-2 signed on August 3, between the Pakistan LNG Limited …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (ABC):The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bearish trend on Monday, losing 158.90 points, a negative change of 0.38 percent, closing at 41,520.59 against 41,679.49 points on the last working day. A total of 148,214,458 shares were traded during the day compared to 219,351,317 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (ABC):Pakistan rupee on Monday depreciated by Rs 1.08 against the US dollar in the interbank trading and closed at Rs 237.91; against the previous day’s closing of Rs 236.83. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of dollars in the open market were recorded at Rs 242 and Rs 244.3 respectively. …

RAWALPINDI, Sep 19 (ABC):Excise and Taxation (E&T) Rawalpindi has offered 5% rebate on payment of property tax before  September, 30. According to Excise and Taxation Officer, Property Zone-2 Rawalpindi Sohail Shehzad, the citizens while paying the outstanding property tax before the deadline could avail the concession. All the property tax payers are informed that the Government of Punjab is providing …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (ABC):Different food commodities worth $725.024 million exported from the country during first two months of current financial year (2022-23), where as food items costing $1.783 billion imported as well to tackle with the domestic requirements. Food group exports from the country during first two months of current financial year grew by 9.70 % as compared the exports …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (ABC): The government is taking inclusive steps to create a business-conducive environment to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and promote entrepreneurship culture in the country. “Ministry of Information Technology is providing an enabling environment to all stakeholders of the startup ecosystem to promote startup culture and attract FDI”, said an official of the ministry of IT. During …

SEOUL, Sep 19 (ABC): The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has raised this year’s inflation outlook for South Korea amid higher energy prices, South Korea’s finance ministry said Monday. The OECD revised up the country’s 2022 inflation outlook to 5.2 percent from its June estimate of 4.8 percent, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said citing the biennial …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (ABC):The exports from the country in rupee term witnessed an increase of 40.53 per cent during the first two months of current fiscal year (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding month of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The exports during July-August (2022-23) were recorded at Rs. 1,043,046 million as against the exports of Rs. …

BANGKOK, Sep 19 (ABC):Thailand’s government expects to achieve  up to 2.38 trillion baht (about 64.3 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue in 2023, a government spokesperson said Monday. As the tourism sector, a key driver of the Southeast Asian country’s economic growth, has continued to recover, the Thai government has set a target of bringing the revenue back to 80 …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (ABC):The ongoing sovereign portfolio of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Pakistan includes 48 loans and three grands worth of $8.42 billion.  According to the member fact sheet released by the ADB, in 2021, ADB’s loan and grant disbursements to Pakistan amounted to $1.31 billion, comprising $0.3 billion in program lending and $1.01 billion from project lending and …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (ABC):The federal government has allocated Rs. 2300 million in the current Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) to repair about 100 diesel-electric locomotives. The government has allocated funds amounting to Rs. 32, 648.036 million for the execution of 36 ongoing and new projects of the Railways Division, said an official of the ministry. About Rs. 26,648.036 million have …

Sep 16(ABC): India’s conglomerate Adani Group founder and chairman, Gautam Adani, is now the second richest person in the world, NDTV reported, citing Forbes, as he surpassed Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault of Louis Vuitton. Adani’s current worth according to the American business magazine’s real-time billionaires list is $154.7 billion, while Elon Musk retains the position of world’s richest person with …

SEOUL, Sep 16 (ABC):South Korea’s automotive export logged a double-digit growth last month due to solid demand for eco-friendly vehicles, government data showed Friday. The country’s car shipment soared 35.9 percent over the year to 4.12 billion U.S. dollars in August, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The number of exported vehicles was 168,155 in August, up …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 16 (ABC):The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bearish trend on Friday, losing 92.60 points, a negative change of 0.22 percent, closing at 41,679.49 against 41,772.09 points on the last working day. A total of 219,351,317 shares were traded during the day compared to 259,979,526 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 16 (ABC):The price of 24 karat per tola gold witnessed a decrease of Rs.850 on Friday and was sold at Rs.155,000 against its sale at Rs. 155,850 the previous day. The price of 10 gram 24 karat also decreased by Rs.728 and was sold at Rs.132,888 against Rs.133,616 whereas that of 10 gram 22 karat went up to …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 16 (ABC):The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Friday issued its annual report for the fiscal year 2020-21, during which it resolved 8,272 complaints providing financial relief of Rs 1,18.31 million to consumers. Besides, the Authority granted 1,341 gas connections while addressing the consumer complaints, OGRA said in the report. “OGRA entertained consumers’ complaints against natural gas, …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 16 (ABC):The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended on September 15 for the combined consumption group witnessed a decrease of 0.19 percent as compared to the previous week. The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 221.14 points against 221.55 points registered in the previous week, …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 16 (ABC):The imports of overall petroleum group witnessed an increase of 6.97 percent during the first two months of the current fiscal year (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding period of the last year. During the period under review, the total imports of the petroleum group during July-August (2022-23) stood at $3,302.159 million, as against the imports of …

VIENTIANE, Sep 16 (ABC):The Lao Academy of Social and Economic Science (LASES) has lowered its forecast of the Southeast Asian country’s economic growth to 3 percent for 2022, from 4 percent projected earlier. The downgraded projection of the country’s economic growth is due to slower expansion in sectors relating to consumption, export, and private and state investment, according to the …

YANGON, Sep 16 (ABC): Myanmar exported more than 723,043 tons of beans and pulses worth over 564 million U.S. dollars in over five months of the 2022-23 fiscal year, showed the Ministry of Commerce’s figures on Friday. From April 1 to Sept. 9 this year, Myanmar has shipped over 580,691 tons of beans and pulses via sea routes and transported …

KARACHI, Sep 16 (ABC):State Bank of Pakistan on Friday injected Rs 1,401.950 billion into money market as reverse repo purchase through its Open Market Operation. Rs 689.750 billion were pumped for three days at 15.15 rate of return accepted per annum and Rs 712.2 billion for 63 days at the same rate of return.

ANKARA, Sep 16 (ABC):Ankara is putting “sincere efforts” to end the crisis in Ukraine and let the grain to be exported to Africa, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. “We make sincere efforts to ensure that grain reaches those who need it most, especially our brothers and sisters in Africa,” Erdogan said at the second session of the …

ISLAMABAD, Sep 16 (ABC):Pakistan rupee on Friday depreciated by 95 paisa against the US dollar in the interbank trading and closed at Rs 236.83; against the previous day’s closing of Rs 235.88. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of dollars in the open market were recorded at Rs 240.2 and Rs 241.2 respectively. …

  LAHORE, Sep 15 (ABC):Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has fixed property transfer rate at one percent across the province.In a statement, he said that the revenue of the Punjab government will increase a lot, adding that this decision has been taken in the best public interest. There will be an increase in registries across the province as the …