ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit surged 55.2% month-on-month to $3.39 billion in April 2025, driven by a sharp contraction in exports and a double-digit rise in imports, official data showed on Friday.
Commodities
Inflation hits historic low of 0.3pc in April, deflation fears grow
KARACHI: Pakistan’s consumer inflation rate slowed sharply to 0.3 percent year-on-year in April 2025, the lowest level in approximately six decades, marking a dramatic turnaround from the double-digit crises that gripped the economy a year earlier, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.
Multinationals press for 17 percent GST to reverse sales slump
ISLAMABAD: Multinational companies in Pakistan are pushing the government to slash taxes and overhaul fiscal policies they blame for eroding profits, with sales declines of up to 30 percent across industries.
CCP fines eight poultry firms Rs155 million for WhatsApp-led price-fixing cartel
ISLAMABAD: An antitrust regulator fined eight poultry hatcheries a combined Rs155 million for illegally colluding to fix prices of day-old chicks, a scheme it said worsened food inflation and exploited consumers amid economic strain.
CCI endorses govt move to shelve Indus canal project
ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Monday endorsed the government’s earlier decision to shelve a $2 billion Indus River canal project, following protests in Sindh province and pressure from a key coalition ally.
Govt calls urgent CCI meeting to settle Indus canals dispute
KARACHI: The government will hold an urgent meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Monday evening to address a contentious plan to build six new canals on the Indus River, a project that has sparked widespread protests in Sindh, a provincial minister said.
Lifeline under siege
India’s abrupt suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty on April 24, 2025, following a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir, has thrust South Asia into a perilous standoff, with Pakistan warning that any tampering with its water lifeline would be an “act of war.” The decision, outlined in a sharply worded letter from India’s Jal Shakti Ministry Secretary Debashree Mukherjee to her Pakistani counterpart Syed Ali Murtaza, dismantles a 65-year-old pact that has endured wars and crises, exposing the fragility of trust between two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan seeks to boost US imports, remove barriers to escape Trump tariffs
KARACHI: Pakistan is seeking to increase its imports from the United States and eliminate non-tariff barriers in an effort to mitigate the impact of high tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
Pakistan inflation nears zero in April, deflation looms
KARACHI: The inflation is set to bottom out in April 2025, potentially dipping into deflationary territory, as a sharp decline in food and electricity prices drives the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to unprecedented lows, a brokerage report said in Monday.
FDI rises 14pc on Chinese flows; textile, tech exports gain
By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan attracted $1.64 billion in foreign direct investment during the first nine months of its fiscal year through March, a 14 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, as Chinese inflows doubled and textile and technology exports surged.