Business

Ishaq Dar cancels US trip as political crisis worsens

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Dar cites “domestic state of political affairs” as major reason.
Finance minister was also expected to visit UAE on his way to US.
A delegation will represent Pakistan at WB-IMF spring meeting now.

Despite Pakistan trying to make all-out efforts to woo the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release a $1.1 billion loan tranche, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar cancelled his trip to the United States.

Source told Geo News that the finance minister has called off his trip citing the “domestic state of political affairs” as the reason.

Dar was expected to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank-IMF that were taking place from April 10 to 16 in Washington.

Meanwhile, he was also scheduled to meet the IMF management for holding talks regarding the removal of bottlenecks for the revival of the derailed $6.5 billion programme.

Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since the end of January for the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed upon in 2019. To unlock the funding, the government has cut back on subsidies, removed an artificial cap on the exchange rate, added taxes and raised fuel prices.

However, assurances from friendly nations for additional funds have delayed the agreement.

The finance czar was also expected to visit UAE on his way to the US where he was to hold talks with the officials for getting confirmation on another $1 billion deposit from them, which may pave the way for striking the staff-level agreement with the IMF.

While Dar pulled out of the trip, a delegation from Pakistan — including Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh and Economic Affairs Secretary Kazim Niaz — will attend the spring meets of WB-IMF. The delegation will hold talks with the IMF officials on the sideline of the meetings to woo them to release the next tranche to Pakistan.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad will also accompany the Pakistani delegation visiting the US.

Business

China Contributes 43 New Foreign Firms to the 6% Growth in SECP Registrations

Published

11 hours ago

Farwa

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has registered 2,617 new firms this year, a 6% increase from 2023, with assistance from the Special Investment Facilitation Council. This increases the overall number of businesses that are registered to 231,111.

Non-profits, trade associations, and public unlisted firms make up 4% of these, while private limited corporations make up 55% and single-member companies 41%. It is noteworthy that 99.8% of the registrations were done online, demonstrating SECP’s attempts to digitise.

Real estate has 237 new businesses, services has 306, and trade has 377 new businesses. These are the main sectors exhibiting growth. While the healthcare and textile industries each had 49 new businesses, the education sector saw 101.

China contributed the most, adding 43 new companies, out of the 61 new companies that were registered as a result of foreign investment.

These recently registered businesses are anticipated to decrease imports, increase domestic production, and contribute to closing the trade deficit.

Business

PSX reaches an all-time high as the KSE-100 Index surpasses 86,000 points.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has achieved a significant milestone, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index has attained an unprecedented peak.

On Tuesday at midday, the index ascended by 788 points, attaining a record high of 86,846 points. Following the ratification of the constitutional amendments, the stock market has increased by 1500 points over a span of two days.

Earlier today, the KSE-100 Index increased by 683 points, attaining a value of 86,741 points, before concluding at this new apex.

The bullish trend was apparent from the commencement of the trading session, with the index rising an additional 555 points to reach 86,612 points throughout the day. The reinstatement of the 86,500-point threshold signifies robust market performance.

Business

In three months, Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 33.54 percent.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

During the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July to September), Pakistan’s IT export remittances hit US$ 876 million, a notable 33.54 percent rise from US$ 656 million during the same period previous year (FY 2023-24).

In a statement, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the amount of money sent home by the export of ICT services was US$ 292 million in September 2024, a 41.7% increase from US$ 206 million in the same month the previous year.

She stated that efforts to make it easier for businesses to conduct business in the nation are the reason why IT exports are rising and that actions are being taken to increase them.

In response to the Prime Minister’s directions, Shaza Fatima stated that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the IT industry are dedicated to boosting IT exports with the full assistance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

A trade surplus of US$ 764 million was recorded by the IT & ITeS sector in the first three months of FY 2024–25, accounting for 87.21 percent of all ICT export remittances.

Over the same period last year, this surplus represents a 36.67 percent gain over US$ 559 million. The services industry as a whole, however, experienced a trade deficit of US$ 699 million during this period.

The largest of all service sectors, ICT export remittances from July to September 2024, were US$ 656 million, followed by “other business services” at US$ 374 million.