LAHORE: The Gallup Pakistan latest survey reveals a stark decline in business confidence among the country’s business owners, who now view Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government as an even worse economic manager than its predecessor. The continued political turmoil and the introduction of a tax-heavy budget have further exacerbated their pessimism about the future. The Gallup Business Confidence Index, which surveyed 454 small, medium, and large businesses across more than 30 districts in the second quarter of 2024, showed negative values for all three key indicators: the current business situation, future business situation, and the direction of the country. The…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade imbalance with the Middle East has significantly improved, narrowing by 20.47 per cent to $13.014 billion in 2023-24 from $16.365bn the preceding year, owing primarily to lower petroleum imports from the region. The trade imbalance with the region has seen a decrease since the beginning of the current fiscal year. This can be attributed to a decline in the consumption of petroleum products, which is a result of the continuous rise in prices during the months under review. In absolute terms, Pakistan’s exports to the Middle East rose 35.23pc to $3.155bn between July-June FY24 compared to $2.33bn…
KARACHI: Unrestricted imports from February onwards increased the arrival of completely knocked down (CKD) kits to $779 million in FY24 from $750m in FY23 amid sales fluctuations and plant shutdowns. CKD imports fell drastically to $37m in January from $104m in December 2023 after the State Bank of Pakistan imposed curbs on opening fresh letters of credit (LCs) to discourage auto demand and control the current account deficit. After the central bank relaxed import restrictions, CKD imports flourished to $50m in February, $60m in March, $72m in April, $78m in May, and $104m in June. Some market experts believe that…
TAIPEI: The strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years killed five people and flooded parts of the island’s second-biggest city on Thursday, with rescuers searching for six sailors missing after their cargo ship sank in the storm. Typhoon Gaemi transformed streets in southern Kaohsiung city into rivers, with some households flooded by rainwater. Schools and offices were closed in several cities for a second day, with the stock market suspended and thousands of people evacuated. Gaemi also exacerbated seasonal rains in the Philippines on its path to Taiwan, triggering flooding and landslides that killed 20 people. A tanker carrying 1.4 million…
UNITED NATIONS: Humanity is suffering from an “extreme heat epidemic,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday, calling for action to limit the impacts of heat waves intensified by climate change. “Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic — wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world,” he said. “That’s 122 degrees Fahrenheit. And halfway to boiling.” According to the European Copernicus network, July 21, 22 and 23 were the three hottest days ever recorded worldwide, with July 22 holding the absolute record of 17.16°C. Guterres repeated his call for…
RIO DE JANEIRO: The United States sees no need to negotiate an international agreement on taxing the super-wealthy, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday, highlighting divisions on a plan that is top of the agenda at a G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Taxing the ultra-rich is a key priority of Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who this year heads the G20 grouping of the world’s major economies, the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU). “Tax policy is very difficult to coordinate globally,” Yellen told a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, ahead…
LONDON: The British Pakistani man who was kicked in the head and stamped on by a police officer at Manchester Airport, has a cyst on his brain, according to the family’s lawyer. Lawyer Akhmed Yakoob made this statement outside Rochdale Police Station, following the widespread circulation of footage of the incident from Manchester Airport on social media. Mr Yakoob identified the man as Fahir, who was found to have a cyst on his brain after a CT scan was conducted post-incident. Mr Yakoob, who is also representing Fahir’s brother Amaad and their elderly mother, stated that Fahir’s condition deteriorated overnight. The family…
GENEVA: The UN rights chief called on Thursday on Bangladesh to urgently disclose the details of last week’s crackdown on protests amid accounts of “horrific violence”, calling for “an impartial, independent and transparent investigation”. “We understand that many people were subjected to violent attacks by groups reportedly affiliated with the Government, and no effort was made to protect them,” Volker Turk said in a statement. Last week’s violence killed at least 193 people including several police officers, according to the source count of victims reported by police and hospitals, in one of the biggest upheavals of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year…
WASHINGTON: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday invoked the annihilation of US adversary Iran in a social media post reminiscent of his most incendiary outbursts while in the White House. “If they do ‘assassinate President Trump,’ which is always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth — If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered ‘gutless’ cowards!” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump made the remarks alongside a brief video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bringing up alleged Iranian plots against Trump in…
France’s high-speed rail network was hit by “malicious acts” including arson attacks that have disrupted the transport system, train operator SNCF said on Friday, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. A source close to the investigation told AFP that the attacks were coordinated acts of “sabotage”. “This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network,” SNCF told AFP, adding that many routes will have to be cancelled. “SNCF was the victim of several simultaneous malicious acts overnight,” the national train operator said, adding that the attacks affected its Atlantic, northern and eastern lines. “Arson attacks…
