ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s external financing requirements for the current fiscal year have fallen to $21.5 billion, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad said, as a three-year extension on $5 billion in Saudi Arabian deposits combined with $9 billion in central bank dollar purchases to ease pressure on the country’s foreign accounts.
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Pakistan unveils four-year Haj policy allowing pilgrims to book their preferred pilgrimage year
ISLAMABAD: Pilgrims from Pakistan will for the first time be able to select which year they wish to perform Haj, under a new four-year policy that ministers have billed as the start of a fundamental overhaul of the country’s pilgrimage arrangements.
Rights groups demand independent probe into Azad Kashmir clashes that left dead and injured
ISLAMABAD: Rights groups have demanded an independent investigation into deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as the Himalayan territory presses ahead with elections shadowed by weeks of unrest and a communications blackout that has only now begun to lift.
Pakistan forms committee to manage wheat imports as prices surge
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee approved a steering panel to oversee wheat import needs on Wednesday, formalising an emergency response to a supply shortage that has pushed flour costs higher across the country of 268 million people.
Pakistan raises diesel price, trims petrol as daily reviews continue
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan increased the price of high-speed diesel by 2.24 rupees a liter while cutting petrol by 75 paisa, the latest in a string of daily adjustments the government adopted this month to keep pump prices in step with a volatile global oil market.
US and Saudi Arabia strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq as Tehran fires on American bases
ISLAMABAD: The United States and Saudi Arabia carried out joint air strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq on Wednesday, hours after Iran fired missiles at American forces in the region, shattering a fragile lull in a conflict that has unsettled the Middle East and rattled global oil markets for months.
Senate committee orders Islamic banks to end abaya rule for female staff
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue has ordered the country’s central bank to stop commercial banks forcing female employees to wear abayas and headscarves, demanding immediate enforcement of a dress code policy the committee first laid down more than a year ago.
Security forces kill 32 suspected militants in 24-hour operations across KP and Balochistan
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 32 suspected militants in coordinated operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan over the past 24 hours, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday, as a separate operation against militants in Swat claimed the life of a police constable.
Bhutto-Zardari steps up rigging claims as PPP-PML-N feud over AJK vote deepens
MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari intensified his confrontation with the ruling PML-N on Wednesday, demanding fresh polling in Mirpur and accusing his party’s own coalition partner of stealing the mandate of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s voters in the first phase of assembly elections.
AJK police say 26 officers killed this year in clashes with banned protest group
MUZAFFARABAD: Police in Azad Kashmir have said 26 of their officers have been killed this year in clashes linked to a banned protest movement, as violence surrounding the region’s staggered legislative elections left both sides trading starkly conflicting casualty figures.