KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines has shortlisted Tewolde Gebremariam, the former chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines Group, to lead the recently privatized national carrier, according to a Bloomberg News report on Friday that cited a person familiar with the matter.
Economy
World Bank approves $375.9 mln for Pakistan power grid upgrade
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved $375.9 million in financing to help Pakistan modernise its national power transmission network, the lender said on Friday, the first tranche of a decade-long programme aimed at easing chronic outages and expanding the use of clean energy.
Cabinet body denies debt-laden gas utilities relief from global accounting rules
ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on state-owned enterprises has turned down a request by two gas utilities weighed down by circular debt to be exempted from international accounting standards, a move that would have helped them avoid being declared insolvent, according to an official statement.
Pakistan rushes to buy LNG cargo as Hormuz attacks disrupt Qatari supply
KARACHI: Pakistan moved on Thursday to secure an emergency cargo of liquefied natural gas after attacks on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this week halted a Qatari shipment bound for Karachi mid-voyage, deepening a supply crunch that has weighed on the country since Iranian strikes crippled Qatar’s main export terminal in March.
ADB holds Pakistan growth forecast at 3.7 percent as Mideast conflict clouds Asia autlook
KARACHI: The Asian Development Bank cut its growth forecast for developing Asia and the Pacific, citing deeper-than-expected damage from Middle East energy disruptions, even as it left Pakistan’s outlook unchanged for a second straight quarter.
Remittances fully offset widening trade gap as Pakistan inflows hit record $41.6bln in fiscal 2026
KARACHI: Remittances from Pakistan’s overseas workers rose 9% to a record $41.6 billion in the fiscal year through June, absorbing a sharply wider trade deficit and giving the central bank room to consider easing policy even as analysts warn that unrest in the Middle East could crimp the flows that have become the linchpin of the country’s external accounts.
Pakistan seeks tariff reprieve from US as trade framework talks resume
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and US officials are meeting in Washington for a second day of trade talks, with Islamabad pushing to secure relief from American tariffs and pin down the terms of a broader bilateral trade agreement before a key exemption lapses later this month.
Punjab braces for power blackouts as renewed Hormuz tensions cut gas supplies
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s largest gas utility has suspended natural gas deliveries to four power plants in Punjab through Aug. 3, citing renewed disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz that have crimped Qatar’s ability to ship liquefied natural gas, threatening to worsen electricity shortages just as a summer heat wave pushes demand to seasonal highs, Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.
Pakistan flags risk to Gulf remittances as Iran truce frays
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan risks a fresh squeeze on remittances from the Gulf and a rebound in its energy import bill if the fragile truce between the US and Iran collapses, a senior Pakistani official told lawmakers, as President Donald Trump threatened new strikes following Iranian attacks on American bases in the region.
Pakistan set to miss growth goal again, IMF says, as Mideast war clouds outlook
KARACHI: Pakistan’s economy will expand 3.5% in the fiscal year starting July 2026, the International Monetary Fund said, falling half a percentage point short of the government’s own 4% target and underscoring the drag that elevated energy costs and global trade disruption continue to exert on the South Asian nation.