Page 2 - Pakistan

Pak needs to pay $77.5 bn in debt; risk of default 'real': US think tank

Pakistan needs to repay a whopping USD 77.5 billion in external debt from April 2023 to June 2026 and the cash-strapped country may face "disruptive effects if it ultimately defaults, a prominent US think tank has warned. The analysis published on Thursday by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) warned that amid skyrocketing inflation, political conflicts, and rising terrorism, Pakistan is facing the risk of a default due to its massive external debt obligations, the Geo News reported on Friday. Pakistan, currently tackling a major economic crisis, is grappling with high external debt, a weak local currency and dwindling foreign exchange reserves. The USIP report called the USD 77.5 billion that Pakistan needs to repay in external debt from April 2023 to June 2026 a hefty amount for a USD 350 billion economy. It stated that if Pakistan ultimately defaults, there will be a cascade of disruptive effects. In the next three years, the debt-struck country has to make major ...

Pak Army Chief's personal data breach prompts formal inquiry by Parliament

A powerful panel of Pakistan's Parliament has sought a criminal investigation against officials of a government agency who allegedly accessed the personal information of Army chief General Asim Munir and his family, a media report said on Friday. According to the Dawn newspaper, two Pakistani journalists claimed in a vlog earlier this week that in October 2022, personal data and travel records of Gen. Munir's family were allegedly accessed by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) officers in a bid to stop his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff. NADRA also confirmed the news of the personal information of the Army chief's family being accessed and stolen. At a Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) meeting on Thursday, chaired by Member of the National Assembly Noor Alam Khan, expressed serious concerns over media reports about the breach, the report said. Khan said that those involved in the data theft should be behind bars, adding that Military Intelligen

Pakistan has replied to India on Indus Water Treaty review: Foreign Office

Pakistan has responded to a letter by India asking to start negotiations for the review of the Indus Water Treaty, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday. India earlier this year for the first time issued a notice to Pakistan, seeking a review and modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), in view of Islamabad's "intransigence" to comply with the dispute redressal mechanism of the pact that was signed more than six decades ago for matters relating to cross-border rivers. "I can confirm that Pakistan has responded to the Indian letter on the Indus Water Treaty. Pakistan remains committed to the implementation of the Treaty in good faith and to ensure its water security," Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly briefing. "I would not like to add to media speculation. As I have said, we have responded to India. I have nothing further to add," she said when asked about the details of the Pakistani response. The India Water Treaty (IWT) signed in 1960 throug

Pak's election commission announces Punjab poll on May 14 as directed by SC

Pakistan's election watchdog on Wednesday announced that it will hold the polls in the politically crucial Punjab province on May 14 as directed by the Supreme Court a day earlier. A three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday fixed May 14 as the new date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, as it quashed the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to extend the polls date from April 10 to October 8. As per the schedule announced by the election commission on Wednesday, polling for elections in Punjab will be held on May 14. The last date for filing an appeal against the decision of the Returning Officer regarding the nomination papers will be April 10. "The ECP hereby recalls its notification of even number dated March 22, 2023 and in partial modification to this commission's notification of March 8, 2023 hereby revises the following stages of the election programme for the conduct of general elections to the provincial assembly o

BSF apprehendes Pakistani national trying to enter India via Gujarat

The Border Security Force has apprehended a Pakistani national trying to enter India through the border along Gujarat's Banaskantha district, the BSF said on Wednesday. BSF troopers observed a Pakistani national crossing the international border on Tuesday. They nabbed him as soon as he climbed down the gate near the Border Out Post (BOP) Nadeshwari in Banaskantha district, the BSF said. The man, identified as Daya Ram, a resident of Nagarparkar in Pakistan, was seen negotiating a fence gate by climbing over it to enter the Indian side of the fence, the BSF Gujarat Frontier said in a release. "He was immediately apprehended as soon as he climbed down the gate near BOP Nadeshwari in Banaskantha District," it said.

Pakistan's trade deficit narrows by over 35% in 1st nine months of FY23

The exports from July 2022 to March this year were recorded at $21.046 billion against the exports of $23.350 million in the same period of last fiscal year

Pakistan raises benchmark interest rate by 100 bps as IMF Loan in Limbo

The overall balance of payments position continues to remain under stress, with foreign exchange reserves still at low levels, the central bank said

Pakistan rupee falls all-time low, struggles to unlock IMF funding

The Pakistani rupee sank to Rs 287.29 against the US dollar, a record low on Tuesday as the cash-starved country struggles to unlock critical International Monetary Fund (IMF) funding while dwindling foreign exchange reserves become another source of concern for investors, a media report said. The local unit, in the interbank market, closed at 287.29 against the US dollar, 0.78 per cent or Rs 2.25, down from Monday's close of 285.04, Geo News reported. Last month, the rupee hit a record low, closing at Rs 285.09 per US dollar on March 2, the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed. According to financial experts, Financial importers have resumed the panic buying of US dollars, while the supply of foreign currency remained low in the interbank market. Pakistan's loan programme is yet to materialise months after it raised taxes and energy prices and allowed the currency to depreciate to meet IMF's conditions. The nation has missed multiple deadlines to resume its ...

Pak's anti-terrorism court grants interim bail to Imran Khan in 3 cases

In a huge relief, embattled former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI chief Imran Khan was granted interim bail by a Lahore anti-terrorism court on Tuesday in three cases, reported Geo News

Pakistan PM hits back at Chief Justice Bandial for his critical remarks

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday hit back at Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial for his critical remarks, taking the polarisation in the coup-prone country to new limits amid economic meltdown and bitter political divide. During a hearing on the postponement of polls in Punjab on March 31, the chief justice said: "Today, when you go to parliament, you find people addressing the parliament who were till yesterday in captivity, imprisoned, declared traitors. They are now talking over there, and being respected because they are representatives of the people." The stark reference was interpreted as a jibe at the Prime Minister who was arrested twice during the government of Imran Khan on the charges of alleged corruption but was bailed out by the courts. Speaking in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Sharif said that he faced unfounded allegations in the previous government followed by arrests but he succeeded to counter them on merit. "It is God's grace that I was ..

Pakistan has choice whether to become Turkiye or Myanmar: Imran Khan

In a fresh attack on Pakistan's powerful military, ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Monday said the country is left with two choices -- either follow Turkiye or become another Myanmar. In Myanmar, the military ousted democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 while in Turkiye, a bloody military coup to topple the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016 was foiled after people came out on the streets and resisted a regime change. "Today, we stand at a turning point in our Constitutional history where we can be like Turkiye or become another Myanmar.

Currency dealers offer $24 bn in loans to Pak to stay away from IMF package

Currency dealers in open market in Pak have offered loans of $24 billion to the government for the next two years to help it stay away from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme

BrahMos accidental firing a case of policy failure: Sacked Wing Commander

In a case of accidental firing, the BrahMos combat missile landed in Pakistan in March last year

Inflation, unorganised distribution of flour blamed for stampede in Pak

There have been multiple stampede incidents across Pakistan due to the unorganised distribution of free flour which led to the death of various inflation-hit people, who gathered to collect food

Inflation in Pakistan rises by record as IMF reforms spur gains: Data

Consumer prices rose 35.37% from a year earlier, according to data released by the statistics department Saturday

Stampede at food distribution centre kills 12 in Pakistan's Karachi city

At least 12 people, including women and children, were killed and several others injured in a deadly stampede at a Ramzan food distribution centre in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, officials said. The stampede took place after some people unknowingly stepped on a live wire where food was being distributed, leading to the tragedy. Soon, people started pushing each other, due to which some even fell into a nearby drain, police said. "Initially two persons were electrocuted after stepping on the live wire and that led to panic and stampede, SSP Ameerullah told PTI. Two children and two women fell in a drain when its wall collapsed due to the rush of the people, he said. In a statement, a spokesperson for Keamari police initially said that 11 people had died while five others had been injured. The spokesperson said the injured had been shifted to the hospital while further investigation was underway. Most of the victims were women between 40 to 50 years of age. Later, S

Pakistan's forex reserves fall to less than a month's import cover

As Pakistan struggles to secure external financing to pull the country out of the economic crisis, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP reversed their course, snapping their 6-week winning streak

China rolls over $2 bn as loan to Pakistan: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received a rollover loan of USD 2 billion that matured last week from its "all-weather ally" China, finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday, a move that will help Islamabad secure the much-required bailout from the IMF. The rollover is one of the key requirements for Pakistan meeting its external financing needed for it to ink the staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "I am happy to confirm that this has been rolled over on March 23," Dar told parliament, adding that all formalities were completed. Pakistan, currently in the throes of a major economic crisis, is grappling with high external debt and dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Pakistan is scrambling to increase its forex reserves which are estimated to be at USD 4.8 billion after China refinanced USD 500 million a fortnight ago. Pakistan has been negotiating with the IMF for the release of a USD 1.1 billion bailout package since February but has so far met with litt

Pak FM calls for working together to address economic, climate challenges

"The world is still suffering from the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it should be our collective responsibility to put a minimum burden on the low-income people," Bilawal said

Pakistan govt's Twitter account withheld for the third time in India

The Pakistan government's official Twitter account has been withheld in India.When anyone tries to access the Twitter account of the Pakistan government, it says, "Account Withheld @GovtofPakistan's account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand."This is reportedly the third time when Pakistan's Twitter account has been restricted to be viewed in India.Earlier in October 2022, the Twitter account of the Pakistan government was withheld in India.It was reportedly the second such incident in recent months. This account was withheld earlier in July as well but had been reactivated and was visible.According to Twitter guidelines, the microblogging site takes such action in response to a valid legal demand, such as a court order. Currently, the Twitter feed of the Pakistan government "@GovtofPakistan" is not visible to Indian users.In June last year, Twitter in India banned official accounts of Pakistan Embassies in the United Nations, Turkey, Iran and Egypt. In August, ..