ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to raise bilateral trade more than tenfold to $200 million annually within two years, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pressed ahead with an effort to position his country as a gateway between South and Central Asia.
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Pakistan turns down BP’s costly sole LNG bid, deepening energy squeeze
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan rejected the only bid submitted for an emergency cargo of liquefied natural gas, deeming the price too high even as the South Asian nation scrambles to plug a supply gap left by halted shipments from Qatar.
Terror attacks surge 38 percent in August, but deadlier July casts long shadow
ISLAMABAD: Militant violence across the country intensified in August, with the number of terrorist attacks climbing 38 percent from the previous month, even as the human toll of that violence — the dead and the wounded — declined, according to new data from a security research group.
Pakistan selector defends brutal mid-series overhaul after Afridi calls it ‘most shocking decision ever’
KARACHI: Pakistan’s chief selector has mounted a defiant defence of the cricket board’s decision to tear up its Test squad and coaching staff midway through the England series, insisting the wholesale changes were forced by a team that had simply stopped competing — even as the fallout threatened to consume the selection process itself.
Petrol, diesel prices rise as Mideast tensions keep oil elevated
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan raised retail fuel prices for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, as the government’s new daily pricing mechanism continued to pass through volatility from renewed fighting between the United States and Iran that has rattled global oil markets.
Lawmakers push back on IMF plan to end export zones
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will eliminate tax and duty concessions for its export processing zones by 2035 under conditions attached to a $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan program, a senior government official told lawmakers, as a Senate panel pressed the administration to renegotiate terms it warned could damage industrial output and investor confidence.
Pakistan’s second Eurobond of 2026 tests investors’ appetite for longer debt
Pakistan is asking bond investors for a longer commitment this time. The government began marketing a dual-tranche dollar bond with five- and 10-year maturities on Tuesday, its second international debt sale this year and a bet that improving credit ratings will persuade money managers to hold its debt further out on the curve than they did in April.
Five security personnel, customs official martyred in Balochistan attack; 21 militants killed
QUETTA: Five security personnel, including two officers, and one customs official were martyred overnight on Monday when militants stormed a customs facility in the country’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, part of a wave of violence that left 21 terrorists killed across two districts, the military said on Tuesday.
Fitch rates Pakistan’s planned dollar bonds B-, flags external liquidity risk
KARACHI: Fitch Ratings assigned a B- rating to Pakistan’s proposed US dollar-denominated bond on Tuesday, placing the sovereign debt sale firmly in speculative-grade territory as the country works to shore up its external finances.
Pakistan August inflation jumps to 11.1 percent, complicating next rate move
ISLAMABAD: Consumer prices in Pakistan climbed more than economists had projected in August, complicating the central bank’s next policy move as tensions in the Middle East raise the risk of further cost pressure ahead.