ISLAMABAD: Pakistan raised gasoline and diesel prices for a third consecutive day on Thursday, as renewed fighting between the US and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz pushes global crude benchmarks higher and tests a two-month-old daily pricing system meant to shield the state from the fallout.
Economy
Pakistan’s trade gap widens 18 percent as import bill outpaces exports
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened sharply in the opening months of the new fiscal year, as a resurgence in import demand outstripped export growth and renewed pressure on a currency and current-account position the government has spent the past two years trying to stabilize.
Pakistan aims to deregulate petrol prices by June 2027
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is aiming to deregulate petrol prices by June 2027, a step toward dismantling one of South Asia’s most tightly managed fuel-pricing regimes and exposing millions of consumers to global market swings for the first time.
Dirty money goes digital as hawala networks turn to apps and crypto
KARACHI: Criminal networks moved more than €500 million through underground banking channels in just a few months in some cases documented by global financial watchdogs — a sign of how far hawala operators have evolved from informal, trust-based money changers into commercial laundering operations rivaling legitimate fintech firms.
Pakistan raises $3 billion in biggest-ever dual-tranche Eurobond deal
KARACHI: Pakistan raised $3 billion on Thursday in its biggest two-part international bond sale on record, capping a run of three deals this year that has taken the country from a four-year absence in Eurobond markets to its largest-ever sovereign debt sale.
Pakistan raises fuel prices as Iran-US escalation sends oil to six-week high
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan raised petrol and diesel prices for a second straight day on Wednesday, as a sharp escalation between the US and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz pushed global crude to its highest level in nearly six weeks and fed directly into pump prices under the country’s daily pricing system.
PIA to fly London daily as comeback from flight ban gathers pace
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines Corp. will operate daily flights to London starting next month, the clearest sign yet that the state carrier’s new private owners are moving to reclaim ground lost during a five-year exile from European and British airspace.
OGDCL taps Baker Hughes to squeeze more oil from aging fields
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s largest state-owned energy explorer is turning to Baker Hughes to wring additional output from oil and gas fields that have been pumping for decades, part of a broader push by Islamabad to narrow its reliance on imported fuel.
ADB signals deeper Pakistan support as stabilization gains take hold
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan secured a fresh endorsement from the Asian Development Bank for its macroeconomic stabilization efforts, with the lender signaling readiness to expand financing for small businesses and export-oriented industries as the South Asian nation pivots toward growth.
Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan sign pact to lift trade to $200 million
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to raise bilateral trade more than tenfold to $200 million annually within two years, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pressed ahead with an effort to position his country as a gateway between South and Central Asia.