KARACHI: Pakistan received a record $4.3 billion in workers’ remittances in May, the State Bank of Pakistan said Wednesday, driven by surging inflows from the Gulf states and the United Kingdom that have put the country on course for an unprecedented full-year total as it navigates a delicate IMF-backed stabilization program.
top-economy
Pakistan sets June 12 for budget as provincial revenue standoff clouds NEC meeting
ISLAMABAD: The government plans to present its federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27 to the National Assembly on June 12, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said Tuesday, as Islamabad moved to lock in a date after weeks of delays driven by coalition friction and a deepening dispute with provincial governments over revenue sharing.
Pakistan’s budget teeters as centre seeks to claw back Rs1.2 trillion from provinces
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s budget preparations descended into open disarray on Monday as the government postponed a key economic planning meeting for the third consecutive time, struggled to win International Monetary Fund backing for a controversial revenue-sharing manoeuvre, and faced a provincial revolt over a demand to claw back more than Rs1.2 trillion that would otherwise flow to the country’s four provinces under a constitutional formula.
Pakistan receives second spot LNG cargo since Iran war upended regional energy trade
KARACHI: A liquefied natural gas tanker docked at Karachi’s Port Qasim on Sunday, marking only the second spot cargo the country has received since the Iran war severed regional energy supply chains and effectively closed one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.
NEC meets to recast Rs4.715 trillion development budget amid IMF pressure, coalition tensions
ISLAMABAD: The National Economic Council convenes on Monday under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to overhaul a combined federal and provincial development program worth Rs4.715 trillion, with officials signalling the final numbers could shift substantially from what a subordinate planning body cleared just days ago — a reflection of the competing fiscal pressures bearing down on a government simultaneously managing an IMF bailout and an uneasy coalition.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia sign deal to develop 140-acre Karachi Port waterfront
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has signed a preliminary agreement with a Saudi-linked investment group and two domestic firms to explore developing a 140-acre commercial district on prime waterfront land controlled by the Karachi Port Trust, as Islamabad deepens its courtship of Gulf capital for large-scale infrastructure.
Pakistan rolls out one percent fixed tax for small retailers in bid to widen net ahead of IMF-guided budget
ISLAMABAD: The government unveiled a flat-rate tax scheme for small retailers on Friday, offering shopkeepers a simplified one-page filing process and exemption from audit in an effort to drag millions of informal traders into a revenue base long derided as narrow, inequitable and politically resistant to reform.
Exporters warn of 30 percent decline unless budget breaks from tax-heavy IMF playbook
KARACHI: Pakistan’s most powerful business lobby warned on Thursday that export earnings could fall by as much as 30% in the coming fiscal year unless the government abandons what it called an IMF-driven, revenue-first budget framework in favor of policies that actively support industrial competitiveness.
Pakistan’s trade gap widens to $34.76 billion as exports slide for most of fiscal year
KARACHI: Pakistan’s trade deficit swelled 17.5% to $34.76 billion in the first eleven months of fiscal year 2025-26, as a persistent slide in export earnings collided with rising import costs, deepening strains on an economy still navigating a fragile external-sector recovery.
Pakistan delays budget presentation as coalition fractures, IMF talks linger
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has postponed the unveiling of its federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27 by five days to June 10, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration grapples with mounting pressure from fractious coalition allies and unfinished negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over the spending plan’s architecture.