ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state utility has restored a hydropower station in the volatile tribal belt of South Waziristan to its full generating capacity after nearly a decade of running at half power, officials said on Thursday, in a rare infrastructure win for a region long troubled by militancy and neglect.
Economy
Pakistan’s one-time used-car import waiver splits govt, auto sector over cost and scale
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce has issued twin directives to break a deepening customs logjam at the country’s ports, granting a conditional one-time waiver on pre-shipment inspection requirements for used vehicles imported from Japan — a move that has drawn fierce opposition from domestic automakers who warn of a $180 million haemorrhage from the country’s foreign exchange reserves and a systematic erosion of consumer road safety.
Pakistan’s digital payments hit Rs168.8 trillion in Q3 as mobile transactions surge
KARACHI: Pakistan processed 3.7 billion retail banking transactions worth 168.8 trillion rupees in the January-March quarter, with digital channels accounting for the vast majority of that activity, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday, underscoring the sweeping transformation of the country’s payments landscape.
Pakistan plans encrypted govt mobile network as India conflict reveals digital vulnerabilities
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has ordered the development of a sovereign, airgapped mobile communications network for at least 10,000 government officials, citing critical information leakages identified after its recent conflict with India and drawing lessons from military engagements across the Middle East.
Barclays upgrades Pakistan dollar bonds to overweight, cites resilient external position
ISLAMABAD: Barclays has upgraded Pakistan’s dollar bonds to overweight, reversing a downgrade it issued in May, as the British bank pointed to improving oil market dynamics and what it described as an increasingly resilient external position, according to a research note cited by Bloomberg on Wednesday.
Pakistan to anchor fuel prices to import costs after industry backlash; foreign capital at risk
ISLAMABAD: The petroleum minister pledged on Tuesday to anchor fuel prices to actual import costs after oil company executives warned that seven formula overhauls in three months had erased a full year’s industry profits in a single pricing cycle and were pushing foreign investors toward the exit.
Pakistan passes budget as opposition walks out, censorship row erupts in parliament
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly passed the federal budget for the next fiscal year on Tuesday after the opposition walked out of the chamber following an acrimonious debate in which the opposition leader accused the government of trampling the constitution and his speech was blacked out on state television and social media.
Abu Dhabi-backed port group bets $100 mln on Pakistan as Iran war reshapes regional shipping
KARACHI: The operator of Karachi’s main container and bulk terminal plans to invest up to $100 million over the next five years, betting that a cargo surge triggered by the disruption of maritime traffic during the U.S.-Israel war on Iran can be converted into durable regional shipping gains for Pakistan.
Islamabad’s fuel price cuts leave Pakistan oil sector nursing $367 mln inventory blow
KARACHI: Pakistan’s oil industry has absorbed losses of roughly 104 billion rupees ($367 million) after the government slashed domestic fuel prices in the wake of a US-Iran ceasefire that reopened the Strait of Hormuz and sent international crude markets sharply lower, according to an industry letter.
Pakistan’s mango exporters face 30 percent revenue collapse as climate damage and Middle East turmoil upend the season
KARACHI: Pakistan’s mango industry is heading for one of its worst export seasons in recent memory, with revenue expected to fall by nearly 30 percent as a punishing combination of extreme weather, regional conflict and soaring freight costs squeezes producers from every direction.