ISLAMABAD: The communications minister invited Saudi Arabia’s leading business council on Friday to take a financial stake in three major highway projects, including a 306-kilometer motorway through Sindh that has languished in planning documents for the better part of three decades, as Islamabad pressed to close a persistent gap in its national road network and draw Gulf capital into an infrastructure push central to its economic recovery.
Economy
Days before budget, ECC hands out billions — including lawmakers’ pet projects
ISLAMABAD: Less than a week before the federal budget is set to be unveiled, the government’s top economic decision-making body approved more than Rs40 billion in supplementary spending grants on Friday, extended a Rs100 billion sovereign-backed borrowing facility to the cash-starved national oil company, and quietly expanded a lucrative bonus program — worth up to six months of additional salary — to several more government ministries.
Govt cuts petrol price for fourth straight week as global oil slump deepens
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cut petrol prices by Rs4 per litre on Friday while holding diesel rates unchanged, extending a run of consecutive weekly reductions as a slide in global crude prices filters through to consumers still reeling from the inflationary shock of earlier this year.
Telenor taps Citi for Easypaisa Bank sale, marking full Pakistan exit
KARACHI: Norway’s Telenor is working with Citigroup to sell its controlling stake in Pakistani digital lender Easypaisa Bank, Bloomberg reported on Friday, a move that would complete the telecom group’s withdrawal from Pakistan after two decades.
Pakistan rolls out one percent fixed tax for small retailers in bid to widen net ahead of IMF-guided budget
ISLAMABAD: The government unveiled a flat-rate tax scheme for small retailers on Friday, offering shopkeepers a simplified one-page filing process and exemption from audit in an effort to drag millions of informal traders into a revenue base long derided as narrow, inequitable and politically resistant to reform.
Exporters warn of 30 percent decline unless budget breaks from tax-heavy IMF playbook
KARACHI: Pakistan’s most powerful business lobby warned on Thursday that export earnings could fall by as much as 30% in the coming fiscal year unless the government abandons what it called an IMF-driven, revenue-first budget framework in favor of policies that actively support industrial competitiveness.
Pakistan issues emergency LNG tender on crisis cell orders as spot prices approach $20
KARACHI: Pakistan has issued a spot tender for a liquefied natural gas cargo to be delivered within days, acting on instructions from a prime ministerial crisis body, as the government races to prevent power shortfalls during peak summer demand, and bids are likely to arrive at prices near $20 per million British thermal units.
Islamabad faces Rs1.7 trillion budget hole, seeks provincial rescue
ISLAMABAD: The federal government is struggling to piece together next year’s budget around a roughly Rs1.7 trillion fiscal hole and is pressing the country’s wealthiest provinces to absorb a substantial share of the shortfall, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s finance adviser — the latest sign that Islamabad’s annual budget exercise has devolved into open coalition brinksmanship.
Reko Diq partners review security costs as Barrick delegation lands in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Barrick Mining Corp. and Pakistan are negotiating a significant upgrade to security arrangements at the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan, a move that is expected to drive up costs at one of the world’s largest undeveloped mineral deposits, according to senior officials.
Pakistan’s trade gap widens to $34.76 billion as exports slide for most of fiscal year
KARACHI: Pakistan’s trade deficit swelled 17.5% to $34.76 billion in the first eleven months of fiscal year 2025-26, as a persistent slide in export earnings collided with rising import costs, deepening strains on an economy still navigating a fragile external-sector recovery.