ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cut retail fuel prices for a second consecutive session, as easing global crude benchmarks gave the government room to extend relief to motorists under a new daily pricing mechanism introduced three weeks ago in response to war-driven market volatility.
Economy
Pakistan, Iran push to triple trade to $10 billion in FTA drive
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran said talks on a long-delayed free-trade agreement are nearing completion, as the two neighbors moved to capitalize on warming political ties and push bilateral commerce toward a $10 billion target that has eluded them for years.
SBP caps bank fees on digital fuel payments to ease retailers losses
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central bank capped fees banks can charge on digital fuel payments, a move aimed at easing pressure on the country’s petroleum dealers after months of complaints that transaction costs were eating into already-thin margins.
Pakistan says power glut replaces electricity shortages, but IMF blocks time-of-use pricing reform
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has moved past its electricity shortage era and now confronts a different challenge: what to do with too much power in the middle of the day and not enough after dark, according to the country’s power minister, who also said International Monetary Fund program restrictions are blocking a pricing overhaul that could ease the problem.
Pakistan cotton arrivals jump 32 percent as Sindh offsets Punjab slump
ISLAMABAD: Cotton arrivals at the ginning factories surged more than 32% in the season through July 31, as a record jump in Sindh province more than compensated for a decline in Punjab, historically the country’s dominant cotton-growing region.
Govt slashes petrol price by 4.08 rupees as global oil retreats
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cut retail fuel prices for a second straight period on Monday, with petrol falling 4.08 rupees a liter and diesel dropping 2.45 rupees, as the government passed through a retreat in global oil prices triggered by President Donald Trump’s decision to shelve a planned strike on Iran.
PM Sharif orders faster privatisation push, eyes private equity fund for growth
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered ministries overseeing the sale of state assets to hit every deadline in the government’s privatization program, as officials reported progress on transactions ranging from the national airline to regional power utilities.
Pakistan’s July inflation cools to single digits, but energy risks cloud outlook
KARACHI: Pakistan’s consumer prices rose 9.2% in July from a year earlier, a slowdown from June’s pace that nonetheless left policymakers wary that higher energy costs could reignite inflationary pressures across South Asia’s second-largest economy.
Pakistan tax authority beats July target on sales tax surge
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue collected Rs816 billion in July, beating its monthly target by Rs36 billion in a start to the fiscal year that officials say was buoyed by stronger sales tax intake and the release of vehicles held up at ports.
OGRA raises RLNG prices by record 32 percent on costly imports
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s energy regulator ordered the steepest increase in imported natural gas prices since the country began buying the fuel a decade ago, a move that will raise costs for millions of consumers already contending with elevated inflation, while the government redirects billions of rupees in unrelated savings toward debt reduction rather than price relief.