Category: Shortcode

Pakistan is a country of 230 million people, a nuclear power, and rich in natural resources but we rank 138 in the world prosperity index and cannot provide quality health and education to our people. With the dwindling reserves, stalled IMF programme, limited bilateral /multilateral inflows and expensive commercial lending to Pakistan, the situation can’t be worst. There is also a lack of vision as how Pakistan can get out of this cycle and stand on its feet. Pakistan roughly generates US$60 billion/year (remittances, exports, little FDI) but need around…

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To help stabilise the economy, the federal cabinet resolved on Tuesday to take drastic steps, such as closing markets at 8:30 p.m. and wedding halls at 10.00 p.m. This is part of the government’s greater plan to cut back on energy consumption in order to save precious foreign exchange reserves.  According to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, “with this initiative, which has been taken in consultation with trade bodies, there will be a saving of around Rs 62 billion (annually).” During a press conference, Asif also stated that, “the approval to…

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Construction work is under progress on 12 different sites of Dasu Hydropower Project. The critical diversion system will be completed in May this year, while electricity generation will commence by the end of 2026. The project management briefed Chairman Wapda Lt-Gen Sajjad Ghani (retd) during his visit to Dasu Hydropower Project which is being constructed by Wapda on River Indus upstream of Dasu Town in Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Chairman visited various sites of the project including diversion tunnels, dam area and the project colony. He was…

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The federal and Baluchistan governments inked a deal on Reko Diq with the Canadian business Barrick Gold on 16 December, after the Supreme Court approved a settlement to begin mining at the site located in Chagai district. The Baluchistan administration described the arrangement as historic and the largest investment pact ever made by the nation. The statement said, “The $6.5 billion punishment levied by an international court has been ineffective after signing the Reko Diq accord. Senior authorities attended a ceremony where the deal was signed by representatives of the…

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Dalian and Singapore iron ore futures fell on Tuesday, along with Chinese steel benchmarks and other steelmaking ingredients, as Covid-19 pressures that have been dragging down China’s economy weighed on sentiment on the first trading day of 2023. Top steel producer China’s factory activity shrank at a sharper pace in December as surging Covid-19 infections disrupted production and curbed demand after Beijing largely removed anti-virus curbs, a private sector survey showed. Iron ore’s most-traded May contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange fell as much as 1.5% to 842 yuan ($121.66)…

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