Month: March 2020

Karachi, March 26, 2020: Most employees at Huawei Technologies Co. are back at work following the coronavirus outbreak, though the pandemic is likely to hit the Chinese telecom giant’s financial results this year, the company’s chief executive said. Ren Zhengfei, who is also Huawei’s founder, also said that the company plans to boost its research and development budget this year by $5.8 billion to more than $20 billion. Huawei, like all global companies, is coping with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, which is curbing economic activity around the world. Mr.…

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KARACHI: The government will arrange Rs750 million foreign financing for “Evacuation of Power from 660 MW Lucky Electric Coal Fired Plant at Port Qasim” project. The project has been approved at the cost of Rs1.315 billion, in which Rs454 million would be financed through domestic resources, official documents of the project indicated. Apart from the foreign and domestic financing, Rs110.14 million worth of duty is also part of the total cost of the project. National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) will finance the local component of the project through its…

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ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet which is scheduled to meet on Thursday(today) with Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez in the chair, will approve increase in tariff of K-Electric (KE) up to Rs 2.89 per unit to bring it at par with other Discos, well-informed sources told Business Recorder. ECC of the Cabinet in its meeting held on March 4, 2020 constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Minister for Power, comprising Minister for Economic Affairs, Deputy Chairman Planning Comm-ission, Secretary Finance and Secretary Power Division to…

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The United States dollar continued its climb against the rupee on Thursday, closing at an all-time high of Rs167 in the interbank market, according to rates provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan. Compared to the opening value of Rs162.5, the dollar rose by Rs4.5, which translates into an increase of 2.77 per cent. Similarly, the rates provided by the State Bank of Pakistan’s ready counter showed the greenback at Rs166.1, up from the opening value of Rs161.6 – again, a jump of Rs4.5. “Foreigners are unloading their holdings…

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IN response to Pakistan’s large external financing requirements, the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) began a concerted campaign this summer to attract inflows from a segment of international fixed income investors that indulge in what are known as ‘carry trades’. These investors, typically highly leveraged hedge funds, borrow in currencies that have low (or negative) interest rates, and buy government securities in emerging markets that offer high interest rates. Since the targeted country’s currency can devalue/depreciate after the trade has been made, those countries that are on…

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