KARACHI: Pressure is mounting on the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to call an emergency meeting and review the current interest rate amid a drop in inflation, according to sources in the financial sector. Just before release of the latest inflation figures, the central bank kept the interest rate unchanged when it announced the monetary policy on April 29. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 17.3 per cent last month, strengthening trade and industry’s clamour for a respite from a record high interest rate. Most financial experts were hopeful of a rate cut this week, but were surprised to see the over-cautious approach…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: The oil and gas exploration companies have warned the government that their financial default was eminent as the outstanding amount against the state has almost reached Rs1.5 trillion. The Pakistan Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association (PPEPCA) has written to Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik stating that the upstream oil and gas sector is in a critical situation. “Our industry is confronting a complex array of challenges that require urgent action. The alarming amount of outstanding receivables from SSGC and SNGPL currently stands at Rs1.5tr, of which over $600 million is payable to foreign companies,” the PPEPCA letter said. It…
ISLAMABAD: Noting the importance of long-standing strategic and economic relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud reaffirmed the resolve to further enhance economic cooperation and Saudi investments in Pakistan. Mr Dar held a meeting with the Saudi foreign minister on the sidelines of the 15th OIC Islamic Summit Conference, in Banjul, The Gambia, on Saturday. The deputy prime minister also held meetings with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Foreign Minister of Kuwait…
KARACHI: The status quo in the SBP policy rate against the market expectation of a cut disappointed investors who resorted to profit-selling, dragging the index below the 71,000 level in the outgoing volatile week. Arif Habib Ltd (AHL) said the index experienced persistent pressure throughout the week as the market anticipated a rate cut, which ultimately remained unchanged at 22 per cent. On the economic front, Pakistan received the last tranche of $1.1 billion under the IMF’s Stand-By Arrangement programme. Moreover, headline inflation in April clocked in at 17.34pc year-on-year (lowest since May 2022) compared to 20.7pc in March. The trade deficit shrank by…
DUBLIN: Students at Trinity College Dublin and Lausanne University in Switzerland have staged occupations to protest against Israel’s war in Gaza, joining a wave of demonstrations sweeping US campuses. In Dublin, students built an encampment on Friday that forced the university to restrict campus access on Saturday and close the Book of Kells exhibition, one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions. The camp was set up after the students’ union said it had been fined 214,000 euros ($230,000) by the university for losses caused by protests in recent months, not exclusively over Gaza. The protesters were demanding that Trinity cut academic…
MOSCOW: Nato’s four-month-long military exercises near Russia’s borders, known as Steadfast Defender, are proof the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, dismissed accusations by Nato this week that Russia is engaged in hybrid attacks on its member states, saying this was misleading “misinformation” aimed at distracting people from the alliance’s activities. It was Nato that had waged a hybrid war with Russia by supporting Ukraine with arms, intelligence and finances, she said in a statement. “Right now, Nato’s largest exercise since the Cold War,…
NEW DELHI: Indian police said on Saturday they had arrested the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over accusations he doctored a widely shared video during an ongoing national election. The Congress party’s Arun Reddy was detained late Friday in connection with the edited footage, which falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister Amit Shah vowing in a campaign speech to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians. Shah is often referred to as the second-most powerful man in India after Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the pair have been close political allies…
DOHA: Qatar could close the political office of Hamas as part of a broader review of its role as a mediator in the Gaza crisis, according to an official familiar with the Qatari government’s reassessment. The Gulf state was weighing whether to allow Hamas to continue operating the political office, and the broader review includes considering whether or not to continue mediating in the seven-month conflict, the official said. Qatar said last month it was reevaluating its role as mediator in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, citing concerns that its efforts were being undermined by politicians seeking to score…
BHUBANESWAR: India will wait for Canadian police to share information on the three Indian men it has arrested and charged with the murder of a Sikh separatist leader last year, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday. Canadian police charged the three on Friday over the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and said they were probing whether the suspects had links to the Indian government. Jaishankar said he had seen news of the arrests and said the suspects “apparently are Indians of some kind of gang background… we’ll have to wait for the police to tell us.” The trio, all Indian…
NEW DELHI: India and Japan have lashed out at US President Joe Biden for his ‘xenophobic’ comments suggesting that both the nations were struggling economically because they rejected immigrants. Biden, who is seeking reelection against Republican rival Donald Trump in November, made the remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Washington this week. “India is not xenophobic,” Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told a media roundtable, insisting that Biden’s comments did not match India’s reality. “First of all, our economy is not faltering,” he said, according to a report of the discussion published on Saturday by the Economic Times newspaper. “India has been a very…
