KARACHI: The country witnessed the highest-ever outflow of profit and dividends by foreign investors in FY24 since FY18 as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had to clear the backlog under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, China and others. Profits and dividends outflows recorded an almost seven times increase to $2.215 billion in FY24 from just $331 million in the preceding fiscal year. This clearly reflects Pakistan’s policy of not allowing dollar outflows. In FY23, the country had a serious problem with foreign exchange reserves and was about to default at the end of FY23. The IMF rescued it through a $3bn Standby…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KARACHI: Businessmen were not happy with the 100 basis points interest rate cut announced by the State Bank of Pakistan (SPB) on Monday, saying they were expecting a substantial reduction of 300-500bps for the revival of economic activities. Abdul Aleem, Secretary General and CEO of the Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), said the drop in interest rate was positive, but “we expected a higher cut in view of muted inflation numbers for the past few months”. “Going forward, we expect a more rapid reduction in line with improving economic parameters. We look forward to a gradual pick-up in private…
KARACHI: Waves Home Appliances Ltd (WHAL) has received a foreign player’s intention to form a strategic alliance. In a stock filing on Monday, the company said it had initiated discussions to develop a comprehensive business model that covers, among other things, the provision of technical know-how, engineering personnel, the use of the company’s brand name in domestic and export markets, management structure sharing, and the amount of investment to be brought in. The company said formal agreements will be signed on finalising these discussions. The primary benefit of this alliance will be access to advanced technology, expertise, and know-how to…
QUETTA: Charge d’affaires of Indonesia to Pakistan Rahmat Hindiarta Kusuma has said that the current annual trade of $45 million between the two countries is much less than its potential which needs to be further increased. Speaking at the Quetta Press Club during his visit on Monday, Mr Kusuma said economic diplomacy and people-to-people contact is the main priority of the Indonesian government and “our arrival in Balochistan is a part of this agenda”. He said there was a lot of potential in the business sector, media and civil society in Balochistan, which can prove to be an important factor…
LAHORE: The government has literally failed to enforce the price lists of vegetables, fruits, pulses, rice and other commodities in the open market as the shopkeepers continue to fleece the public by massive overcharging. On the other hand, the prices, especially of vegetables and fruits continue having an upward trend almost on a daily basis due to poor and obsolete enforcement mechanism based on cosmetic or temporary arrangements, making life of common people tougher more and more, Dawn has learnt. “Living in Pakistan has now become very difficult due to low income of people and increasing prices of electricity, vegetables, fruits, commodities,…
A GROUP of scientists say they have found new evidence to back up their theory that complex life on Earth may have begun 1.5 billion years earlier than thought, BBC News reported. The team, working in Gabon, say they discovered evidence deep within rocks showing environmental conditions for animal life 2.1 billion years ago. But they say the organisms were restricted to an inland sea, did not spread globally and eventually died out. The ideas are a big departure from conventional thinking and not all scientists agree. Most experts believe animal life began around 635 million years ago. Professor Ernest Chi Fru…
LONDON: Former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards, one of the most recognisable faces on UK television, has been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children, police said on Monday. Edwards, who resigned from the BBC in April on “medical advice”, six months after he was initially arrested, was charged on June 26 and has been bailed to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, police added. The offences, which are alleged to have taken place between December 2020 and April 2022, relate to images shared on a WhatsApp chat, police said in a statement. Edwards, 62,…
NUSANTARA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo spent his first night in the eagle-shaped palace of the country’s proposed new capital Nusantara ahead of official meetings on Monday, as the outgoing leader works to allay fears about the beleaguered infrastructure project. Jokowi, as the president is known, has been rushing to complete as much of the new capital as possible before he steps down in October, despite Nusantara facing multiple construction delays, a lack of foreign investment, and managerial and land issues. “This is a big job. It can take 10, 15, 20 years,” Jokowi told reporters outside the new Garuda Palace…
UNITED NATIONS: UN member states met on Monday seeking to finalise an international treaty on the fight against cybercrime, a text strongly opposed by an unlikely alliance of human rights groups and big technology companies. The “United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime” originated in 2017 when Russian diplomats sent the world body’s secretary-general a letter outlining the initiative. Two years later, and despite US and European opposition, the General Assembly created an intergovernmental committee tasked with drawing up such a treaty. Now, the draft text will finally come up for a vote by member states at the end of a two-week…
CARACAS: Streets were largely empty in towns and cities across Venezuela and opposition supporters were subdued on Monday after President Nicolas Maduro and opposition rival Edmundo Gonzalez both claimed victory in a tense weekend election. Few businesses were open and public transport was scarce, as governments in Washington and elsewhere cast doubt on official results that kept the incumbent Maduro in power and called for a full tabulation of votes. The national electoral authority said just after midnight that Maduro had won a third term with 51 per cent of the vote — a result that would extend a quarter-century…
