Business

Petrol price in Pakistan to remain unchanged for first half of May

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

PM Shehbaz rejects OGRA’s proposal to hike petrol prices.
Prices of petroleum products will remain unchanged.
Decision taken to not burden the consumers, per notification.

ISLAMABAD: Prices of petroleum products will remain unchanged after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday rejected the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (OGRA) proposal for a hike in prices, said a notification issued by the Finance Division.

According to the notification, the decision was taken to not burden the consumers.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz directed to maintain the prices of petroleum products at the current level so as not to burden the consumers with the hike in prices,” read the notification.

Product	Old prices w.e.f. 16-04-2022	New prices w.e.f. 1-05-2022	Increase / (-) Decrease
MS (Petrol)	149.86	149.86	0
High-Speed Diesel (HSD)	144.15	144.15	0
Kerosene (SKO)	125.56	125.56	0
Light Diesel Oil	118.31	118.31	0

Earlier this week, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, in a statement, had said that the prices of petroleum products will not be increased for the first half of the next month.

Aurangzeb said the “incompetence and serious mistakes” of the last government were the reasons for people’s suffering.

“Former prime minister Imran Khan’s government had accepted harsh conditions set by the International Monitory Fund related to increasing prices of the petroleum products to secure a loan,” Aurangzeb said.

The information minister said the government is making “every possible effort” not to put any further burden on people, who are already facing the brunt of high inflation.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail had also earlier this week announced that the price of petroleum products would not be increased “immediately”.

Speaking during Geo News programme “Capital Talk”, Ismail urged people to stop filling their petrol tanks out of panic as prices will not be increased immediately.

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.