Page 14 - Pakistan

Pak need to fix responsibility for its depleting forex reserves: Report

Pakistan is in the midst of an "economic meltdown" as its forex reserves dropped by over 40 per cent since the exit of Miftah Ismail and the taking over of Ishaq Dar as the new Finance Minister, reported The Express Tribune.Amid growing fears of an economic meltdown, senior analysts have said that the government needs to fix responsibility for the depletion of Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves in a matter of months otherwise "course correction" won't be possible."Who is responsible for the depletion of our foreign exchange reserves in a matter of months? The government has to fix responsibility," said Naveed Hussain, Editor (Print & Digital) of The Express Tribune, while speaking on ExpressNews talk show 'Experts' on Thursday."In April 2022, the state coffers had nearly USD 11 billion, but the reserves plummeted to USD 7.8 billion by August," he added while referring to the time when the PDM took over the government after ousting Imran Khan through a vote of ...

Pakistan govt goes for a steep hike in petrol and diesel prices

After the rise, the price of petrol was set at Rs 249.80 per litre

10 students dead, 15 injured as boat capsizes in northwest Pakistan

At least 10 students of a religious seminary died on Sunday when their boat capsized in a lake in northwest Pakistan, according to officials. The students, aged between seven and 14 years, of Madrassa Mirbash Khel were on an excursion trip when their boat capsized in the Tanda Dam lake in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said. The rescue workers have recovered 10 bodies, they said. Deputy Commissioner Kohat Furqan Ashraf said the boat was carrying 30 people and most of them were children. He said 16 children were rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital. The Pakistan Army's rescue teams have also reached the site of the incident where rescue operations are being carried out. Caretaker Chief Minister KPK Azam Khan directed the local administration to provide emergency relief to the affected families.

Earthquake of 6.3 magnitude jolts parts of Pak; epicentre in Tajikistan

An earthquake of 6.3 magnitude jolted parts of Pakistan on Sunday but so far there was no report of any loss to life or property. According to the Meteorological Department, the quake's depth was 150 km with the epicentre being in Tajikistan. The department also reported that the latest tremor hit the country at around 12:54 pm and had a longitude of 69.65 East and a latitude of 38.65 North. However, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, an independent tracker of earthquakes through crowdsourced information, said that the earthquake took place near Attock in Punjab province of Pakistan. Radio Pakistan reported that there were no immediate reports of casualties. The tremor was felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other areas of the country. Pakistan is located in a quake-prone region. The deadliest jolt in 2005 killed more than 74,000 people in the country.

Pakistan hikes petrol, diesel prices by Rs 35 amid economic crisis

With today's hike, petroleum will now cost Rs249.80 per litre, while diesel Rs 262.80 per litre, kerosene oil Rs 189.83 per litre and light diesel oil Rs 187 per litre

Pak's foreign loan disbursements slow down from July to Dec 2022: Report

Pakistan received only USD 5.6 billion in foreign loans during the first half of current fiscal year, equal to about one-fourth of the annual budget estimate, due to the cash-starved country's failure to take timely decisions about reviving the IMF loan programme, according to media report on Saturday. Data compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed that foreign loan disbursements from July to December 2022 stood at a mere USD 5.6 billion, the Express Tribune newspaper reported, adding that the disbursements were not enough to finance the maturing foreign debt, making a severe dent in the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank. The key reason for the low disbursements was the government's failure to ensure the timely completion of the ninth review of the IMF programme. As a consequence, the receipt of USD 5.6 billion was equal to only one-fourth of the annual budget estimate of USD 22.8 billion. The IMF on Thursday announced that it would send its mission to ...

Ahead of crucial talks, IMF spots Rs 2 trn breach in Pak's budget estimates

Ahead of its crucial talks with the cash-strapped Pakistan government, the IMF has found an over Rs 2,000 billion breach in budgetary estimates for 2022-23 in its initial assessment that might result in escalating the budget deficit and primary deficit targets with a massive margin. Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials are scheduled to kick-start parleys from Tuesday for accomplishing the ninth review under the Extended Fund Facility during which the fiscal slippages and reconciliation of figures will be the major topic of discussion. The review would lead to the release of the next tranche of funds to Pakistan which has been pending since September. The government had envisaged a budget deficit target of 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and a primary deficit to keep it at positive 0.2 per cent of the GDP on the eve of the budget announcement for 2022-23. According to sources quoted by The News, the IMF is currently asking Pakistani authoriti

Pakistan facing net wheat deficit of 2.37 mn metric tons, says food min

Pakistan National Assembly member and Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema said that Pakistan at present is facing a net wheat deficit of 2.37 million metric tons

Cash-strapped Pakistan's prosperity, economy 'Allah ke zimme': FM

Facing an acute balance of payments crisis, Pakistan is desperate to secure much-needed external financing

Pakistan's power crisis lingers, paralyses economic activities

The crisis forced the government earlier this month to order shopping malls and markets to close by 8.30 p.m. for energy conservation purposes

Indus Water Treaty: India sends notice to Pak, seeks changes in pact

The notice sent on January 25 through respective commissioners for Indus waters, is set to open up the process for making changes to the treaty

Indus Water Treaty: The what and why of a decades-old conflict

The treaty contains a preamble, 12 articles and eight detailed annexures

Cash-strapped Pakistan's currency plunges to Rs 262.6 against US dollar

Cash-strapped Pakistan's currency depreciated to its lowest against the US dollar on Friday in the interbank and open market and closed at Rs 262.6. At one stage the currency depreciated to Rs 265 in the open market and Rs 266 in the interbank before making a slight recovery by the end of the day. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, when the market opened on Friday the currency fell by Rs 7.17 or 2.73 per cent from Thursday's close. The Pakistani rupee's value has devalued by Rs 34 since Thursday in the interbank, the largest depreciation in both absolute and percentage terms since the new exchange rate system was introduced in 1999. The Pakistani rupee has depreciated sharply after the government removed an unofficial cap on the USD-PKR exchange rate to revive the stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. The government decision came on Thursday after the exchange companies announced the removal of a self-imposed rate cap in the open market. The country need

State Bank of Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves fall by $923 mn

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said its foreign exchange reserves had decreased by $923 million last week

India issues notice to Pakistan seeking modification to Indus Waters Treaty

India has issued a notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of September 1960 following Islamabad's "intransigence" on its implementation, government sources said on Friday. The notice was sent on January 25 through respective commissioners for Indus waters, they said. The sources said India has always been a steadfast supporter and a responsible partner in implementing the IWT in letter and spirit. "However, Pakistan's actions have adversely impinged on the provisions of IWT and their implementation, and forced India to issue an appropriate notice for modification of the pact," said a source. India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory of the pact. The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding use of waters of a number of rivers. In 2015, Pakistan requested for appointment of a neutral expert to examine its technical

IMF delegation to visit Pakistan next week for talks on review: Official

The Pakistani rupee has dived to a historic low against the United States dollar after an exchange cap was lifted as the cash-strapped country seeks the help from IMF

Pakistani rupee tumbles to all-time low against USD amid IMF condition

Following the rupee's devaluation in the open and interbank markets, the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rallied and gained by more than 1,000 points, as per media reports

IMF team to visit Pakistan by January end for talks on 9th review: official

As Pakistan restored market-based exchange rate, the IMF on Thursday announced that its delegation will visit the cash-strapped country next week to pave the way for the release of the next tranche of its assistance package. Pakistan entered a USD 6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme during Imran Khan's government in 2019, which was increased to USD 7 billion last year. The programme's ninth review is currently pending with talks being held between IMF officials and the government for the release of USD 1.18 billion. According to official sources, the IMF team would be in Islamabad from January 31 to February 9 to hold talks with the officials over the implementation of its conditions attached with the assistance package. The ninth review was pending due to reluctance of the government to increase rates of electricity and gas and take other measures which would bring a new wave of inflation in the country in the election year. However, as the IMF refused to budge o

A chink in the Indo-Pak ice

Peace overtures call for cautious pragmatism

Pak urges US to ask IMF to not go harsh on Islamabad on reviving programme

Cash-strapped Pakistan has urged the US to use diplomatic influence to convince the IMF to show a lenient attitude towards Islamabad, amid tough conditions conveyed by the global lender to revive its fund programme, a media report said on Thursday. The request was made by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in his meeting on Wednesday with the visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury for Asia Robert Kaproth at the Finance Division, The News International reported. Quoting sources, the newspaper reported that Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continued exchanging data this week but the Washington-based global lender has not shown any lenient attitude or relaxed its tough conditions so far. One of the bones of contention is persistent differences over the approach to dealing with the exchange rate as the IMF considers it completely unacceptable for maintaining an artificially stable exchange rate. Though Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had public