News
The yearly price fixing failure
7+ hour, 53+ min ago (618+ words) With Ramazan close to ending this week, the relief of affordable commodities has remained a far cry for lower-income groups. This was primarily due to structural issues in market dynamics that the government perhaps never factored in. While market players…...
Managing worsening inflation
6+ hour, 14+ min ago (444+ words) On March 9, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided to keep the policy interest rate unchanged at 10.5pc, a decision that arrived as the macroeconomic outlook became "quite uncertain following the outbreak of the war in the Middle East. The closure…...
Food imports jump to $3 billion
3+ mon, 3+ week ago (388+ words) ISLAMABAD: Pak'istan's food import bill soared to $3.075 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year, marking a sharp 31.38 per cent increase from $2.340bn in the same period last year. The surge highlights growing reliance on imp'orted food commodities…...
Oil shock may cost Pakistan 1.5pc of GDP: experts
1+ day, 9+ hour ago (946+ words) " External sector may face $12-14bn shock over next year, warns Hafiz Pasha" Ex-SBP chief Ishrat insists daily fuel price adjustments may cut hoarding incentives" IMF may use crisis to demand deeper concessions, says Kaiser Bengali KARACHI: If the war continues and…...
Stocks fall for 7th week amid geopolitical tensions
1+ day, 9+ hour ago (601+ words) KARACHI: Geopolitical uncertainties continued to affect the Pakistani shares as the benchmark KSE-100 index registered its seventh consecutive week of decline. The market's downturn was largely attributed to a lack of positive economic developments and the ongoing delay in finalising…...
Returns on T-bills raised up to 39bps
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (342+ words) KARACHI: In the first auction after a surprise status quo in the monetary policy, the cut-off yields on the treasury bills were increased on Wednesday by up to 39 basis points, bringing the returns close to the State Bank's policy rate…...
T-bill yields cut to single digits after four years
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (473+ words) KARACHI: The government on Wednesday reduced the cut-off yields on treasury bills by up to 31 basis points, bringing the yields for most tenors below 10 per cent for the first time in over four years. The yields on three-month and six-month…...
Back to the 1970s? Investors brace for return of stagflation
5+ day, 9+ hour ago (621+ words) LONDON: Investors are preparing for the possibility that war in the Middle East could spark a stagflationary shock reminiscent of 50 years ago, when disrupted global energy supplies sent inflation soaring and battered growth. "The risk of a 1970s scenario is rising,…...
Gold edges higher on safe-haven demand ahead of US CPI data
5+ day, 4+ hour ago (366+ words) Gold edged higher on Wednesday on safe-haven demand and as a retreat in oil prices calmed inflation worries, reviving expectations for potential Federal Reserve rate cuts this year as investors awaited US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data that may offer…...
Paltry growth in exports to EU
6+ day, 9+ hour ago (454+ words) ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's exports to European countries experienced a modest year-on-year growth of 1.32 per cent in the first seven months of 2025-26, mainly due to increased shipments to southern and eastern European nations. Official data showed that, in absolute terms, export earnings…...