Year: 2020

Understanding economic policy in Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD: How is Pakistan’s public sector pension system managed? What are the main components of the annual budget and current account? What is the total revenue, profit and annual repatriation by the multinational companies operating in Pakistan? What is the share of profit that private and foreign banks earn in Pakistan; what are their main lending portfolios and how much of them goes to key economic sectors such as agriculture and SMEs? What is the size of public sector subsidies and what is the rationale and effectiveness of such subsidies?…

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Exports – major driver of economic development’

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KARACHI: Without exports no country has ever developed, just like no country has developed without generating other countries’ interest in its economy through foreign investment, remarked Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. Speaking at a webinar titled “Stabilising the economy through realistic reforms”, organised by the Karachi Council of Foreign Relations, Shaikh said because of the policy initiated by the current government to reduce imports and increase exports Pakistan had been able to bring down the current account deficit from $20 billion to only…

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Oil falls on caution over demand recovery

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LONDON: Oil prices fell on Thursday on demand concerns driven by cautious views from OPEC+ producers and the US Federal Reserve regarding economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude LCOc1 was down $0.48, or 1%, at $44.89 a barrel at 0933 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 fell $0.34, or 0.8%, at $42.59 a barrel. “The surge in Covid-19 infections over the summer has muted the recovery and anyone still believing in a V-shaped recovery needs to do some reassessment,” said Hussein Sayed, Chief Market Strategist at…

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Mari Petroleum’s profit jumps 25%

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KARACHI: Mari Petroleum Company Limited’s profit surged 25% to Rs30.31 billion in the year ended June 30, 2020 due to notable depreciation of rupee against the US dollar, higher sales and surge in finance income. The oil and gas exploration firm had booked a profit of Rs24.32 billion in the preceding year ended June 30, 2019, the company said in a notification sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday. Accordingly, earnings per share increased to Rs227.23 in the year under review compared to Rs182.36 in the previous year.…

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Wapda seeks 150pc hike in revenue requirement

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ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Regulatory Authority (Wadpa) has sought about 150 per cent increase in its revenue requirement for the current fiscal year by raising bulk power tariff by about 30pc. In a tariff petition filed before the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Wapda has demanded that its total annual revenue requirement for 2020-21 be increased to Rs177.5bn, up about Rs106bn from Rs71.35bn approved by the regulator in 2017-18. The authority said its operation and maintenance cost had increased by 40pc to Rs19.7bn while its depreciation cost increased…

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