Category: Recent Post

When an economy takes a downturn, private investors and bankers tend to avoid much of the business risks thus the government’s development spending serves as a stimulus for economic growth and creates jobs. The capital spending on social and physical infrastructure also provides the private sector with business opportunities. However, according to the latest reported update issued by the Ministry of Finance, the government’s capacity to undertake development programmes seems to be shrinking not expanding though coronavirus/lockdown may be partially but not wholly responsible. Issues limiting development spending range from…

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The rupee has gained around 18 paisas each day since hitting a trough of Rs168.43 on August 26 against the dollar. The rupee on Nov 13 hit a six-month high of Rs158.33 against the greenback. Between these months, markets have reacted to the first quarterly surplus in more than five years, $2 billion in remittances for five consecutive months, extension in debt suspension initiative by the G20 countries, low oil prices and reportedly significant dollar inflows under the Roshan Digital Accounts. The real effective exchange rate for September at 94.119…

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After launching Roshan Digital Accounts for overseas Pakistanis to boost both home remittances and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in government debt securities, Pakistan is now trying to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports. The purpose is to keep the balance of payments in shape at a time when geopolitical compulsions and a Covid-19–triggered global economic slowdown pose challenges for the heavily indebted country. Pakistan’s total external debt and liabilities went up to $113.8 billion in September from $107bn in a year ago. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has put…

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ISLAMABAD: The federal government has sought two weeks’ time from Supreme Court of Pakistan to present a viable solution to Karachi Electric’s (KE) issues including exclusivity after 2023. A government team comprising Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub, SAPM on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar and Nepra’s team headed by its Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqi have already held a meeting with Chief Justice Supreme Court, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan in the chamber of Chief Justices on November 12, 2020 and briefed them…

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Support is growing internationally for a new global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis, it has emerged, though so far without the two biggest per capita waste producers – the US and the UK – which have yet to signal their participation. A UN working group on marine litter and microplastics met at a virtual conference last week to discuss the issue. More than two-thirds of UN member states, including African, Baltic, Caribbean, Nordic and Pacific states, as well as the EU, have declared they are open to considering…

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