For more than a decade, Pakistan has treated financial lifelines from the Gulf as a structural feature of its economy rather than a temporary bridge. Abu Dhabi’s refusal to roll over roughly $3.5 billion in deposits at the State Bank of Pakistan—now being repaid in tranches that include a $2 billion maturity on April 17 —should shatter that illusion once and for all. The timing is brutal. Global oil prices have spiked past $100 a barrel amid the Iran war. Pakistan’s foreign-exchange reserves hover near $16.4 billion, barely three months of import cover. Fuel costs are surging, inflation is accelerating, and the country is scrambling to meet the International Monetary Fund’s reserve targets under its $7 billion program. But the deeper damage is strategic. What is collapsing is not merely a banking arrangement but the assumption that money can indefinitely substitute for aligned interests.
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Extra electricity outages sweep Pakistan after government promised limit of 2.25 hours a day
ISLAMABAD: The Power Division imposed longer electricity outages than it had promised just a day earlier after a sudden drop in hydropower generation widened the supply gap, triggering complaints from households and businesses across the country and forcing the government to issue a public apology on Wednesday.
As ceasefire nears deadline, Pakistan juggles talks in Riyadh and Tehran
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Landed in Jeddah on Wednesday for talks with the kingdom’s leadership, even as the army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, reached Tehran carrying what Iranian officials said a new message from Washington aimed at salvaging a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
Sharif embarks on four-day tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye to advance US-Iran peace talks
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif left Islamabad on Wednesday for a four-day diplomatic tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye, stepping up Islamabad’s role as a mediator in the fragile US-Iran peace process as momentum builds for a second round of negotiations.
Saudi Arabia bolsters Pakistan reserves with $3 billion top-up, extends $5 billion facility by three years
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has committed an additional $3 billion in deposits to Pakistan and extended the term of its existing $5 billion facility by three years, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Wednesday, providing timely relief as Islamabad prepares to repay a $3.5 billion loan to the United Arab Emirates.
A Return to the Table in Islamabad
Pakistan’s capital has become an improbable pivot point in a war that was never supposed to last this long. Less than a week after the first face-to-face negotiations between the United States and Iran in more than 40 years collapsed in Islamabad, President Trump is signalling that a second round could begin “over the next two days.” He has even urged a New York Post reporter to stay put in Pakistan because “something could be happening.” Vice President JD Vance, who led the American side in last weekend’s 21-hour marathon, has described the Iranian negotiators as eager for a deal despite the deep mistrust. Pakistani officials, from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the powerful army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, are racing to make it happen—Sharif leaves Wednesday for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to line up regional backing before the fragile two-week ceasefire expires next week.
Trump says Iran talks likely back in Islamabad within days, lauds Field Marshal Munir’s ‘fantastic’ role
ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a second round of direct negotiations with Iran to end the seven-week war could resume in Islamabad as soon as the next two days, reversing an earlier suggestion that the talks might shift to Europe and signaling fresh momentum in the diplomatic push even as the United States enforces a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
IMF cuts Pakistan growth forecast to 3.5 percent as Middle East war clouds global outlook
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund lowered its economic growth projection for Pakistan to 3.5% for fiscal 2027 from a previous forecast of 4.1%, citing risks from the Middle East conflict, while raising its inflation outlook for the South Asian nation to 8.4% — the highest among major international forecasters.
Pakistan to enforce 2.25 hours of daily peak-hour power cuts to avert sharp electricity tariff rise
ISLAMABAD: The government will impose scheduled electricity outages of about 2.25 hours a day during peak evening hours across most of the country, a move designed to curb the use of expensive imported fuels and prevent electricity tariffs from surging amid disruptions to liquefied natural gas supplies triggered by the Middle East conflict.
Sisters of Imran Khan reach gates of Adiala Jail but are turned away, despite court-ordered visitation rights
RAWALPINDI: The sisters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan made it as far as the main gate of Adiala Jail on Tuesday before prison authorities denied them entry, the family said, in the latest example of the restrictions that have largely prevented the ousted leader from receiving visitors for months even after a court ruling granted him regular access.