Business & Economy

By Imran Zia We are proud and gratified to Allah Almighty on this special occasion of 75th Independence Anniversary of Pakistan. At the time of its creation, Pakistan did not have enough capital to form a functioning government to serve its 24 million population and 8 million migrant refugees, nor it had the central bank to maintain foreign exchange reserves and issue currency.  In 1947 Pakistan had only Rs.200 million worth of foreign exchange in central treasury and income of Rs.450 million against the expenditure of more than Rs.800 million. The leadership of newly-established country under the stewardship of Quaid-e-Azam worked selflessly to lay strong foundations of the country where its people can prosper as per their ...

November 30, 2022 at 11:36 am | Economic Affairs

Accounting for approximately 3 per cent of Pakistan's GDP, the automobile is the fastest growing sector in the Sub-Continent, which employs a workforce of over four million. By Ghulam Murtaza The creation of Pakistan had to experience great injustice by inheriting only 34 industries out of 921 in the subcontinent, which reflects how much manipulation was done. Cotton textiles, cigarettes, sugar, rice husking, cotton ginning, and flour milling industries were among the top to create just 26000 jobs and contributed around 7% to GDP. The automobile industry was not existing at that time. General Motors & Sales were the pioneers in selling the Vauxhall Cars, and Bedford trucks, followed by Ali Automobile rolled out Ford Trucks...

November 30, 2022 at 11:19 am | Economic Affairs

Muhammad Shahbaz Jameel President/CEO Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. (ZTBL) The President/CEO of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. (ZTBL) share the mission of and vision of the bank, which is aimed at transforming the agricultural landscape in the country. The Economic Affairs: What is the significance of ZTBL compared to other organizations with reference to Diamond Jubilee Independence anniversary of Pakistan? Muhammad Shahbaz Jameel: ZTBL was established in 1961 which means we are just 14 years younger than Pakistan. This is the significance that we share with Independence Day. Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan's economy and ZTBL is the leader in providing agriculture loan to maximum farmers in Pakistan.  The Economi...

November 30, 2022 at 11:05 am | Economic Affairs

Aamir Ibrahim CEO - JAZZ The Economic Affairs had a privilege to talk to Mr. Amir Ibrahim, CEO Jazz, who shared how the company has revolutionized the telecommunication sector in Pakistan. Following is the transcript of the interview; The Economic Affairs: How has Jazz contributed to the economy of Pakistan in terms of employment, investment, and taxes? Aamir Ibrahim: In the last 27 years, Jazz has invested US$10.3 billion in Pakistan. During the first quarter of 2022 alone, PKR 14.9 billion were invested to forward our '4G for all' ambition. The money we have invested has gone into upgrading and expanding our network across the country as we move forward in our journey to accelerate Digital Pakistan ambition through a robus...

November 30, 2022 at 11:01 am | Economic Affairs

Muhammad Aurangzeb President & CEO – HBL Profile: Prior to this responsibility at HBL, Mr. Aurangzeb was the CEO for JP Morgan's Global Corporate Bank based in Asia, with a rich international banking experience of over 30 years in other senior management roles at ABN AMRO and RBS based in Amsterdam and Singapore. Mr. Aurangzeb is the only Pakistani to be invited to the exclusive membership of the Global CEO Council organized by WSJ / DowJones group. He is also the Chairman of the Pakistan Banks Association, Chairman of the Pakistan Business Council, and Council Member at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan. Mr. Aurangzeb received his BS and MBA degrees from The Wharton School (University ofennsylvania). An Overview of HB...

November 30, 2022 at 10:48 am | Economic Affairs

Waqar Malik CEO - FAUJI FOUNDATION The Economic Affairs feels honoured to talk to Mr. Waqar Malik, who sheds light on the unparalleled role of the Pakistan Army-run institutions in the social-economic development of the country. Following is the transcript of the interview; The Economic Affairs: Sir, would you like to share the success story of Fauji Foundation since it was founded in 1954, and highlight achievements of its subsidiary companies as well. Waqar Malik: Fauji Foundation (FF or “The Foundation”) is a charitable trust founded in 1954 and incorporated under The Charitable Endowment Act 1890. The raison d'etre of Foundation is “Earn to Serve”. The Foundation operates as a Hybrid Social Enterprise, where its ...

November 30, 2022 at 10:42 am | Economic Affairs

Japan’s Bank Nomar has placed Pakistan in the list of the seven countries of the world including Romania, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Czech Republic and Hungary, which are currently suffering from a dangerous currency crisis By Ghulam Haider Bankruptcy speculations have been fueled by the widening of the credit-debit swap (CDS) of Pakistan in the international market as the country has to pay one billion dollars worth of Eurobonds on the 5th of December next month, issued five years ago, to become eligible for borrowing from international market. Financial research houses and experts have termed the increase in CDS as dangerous, and expressed concerns about Pakistan's chances of default, but, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, in...

November 26, 2022 at 6:35 pm | Economic Affairs

Japan’s Bank Nomar has placed Pakistan in the list of the seven countries of the world including Romania, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Czech Republic and Hungary, which are currently suffering from a dangerous currency crisis By Ghulam Haider Bankruptcy speculations have been fueled by the widening of the credit-debit swap (CDS) of Pakistan in the international market as the country has to pay one billion dollars worth of Eurobonds on the 5th of December next month, issued five years ago, to become eligible for borrowing from international market. Financial research houses and experts have termed the increase in CDS as dangerous, and expressed concerns about Pakistan's chances of default, but, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, in...

November 26, 2022 at 6:28 pm | Economic Affairs

Currently, dollar rate in Peshawar market is up to Rs. 240 while in Karachi it is up to Rs. 237. A difference of up to Rs 15 to a dollar makes the gray market more attractive to remitters. By Ghulam Haider Remittances by overseas Pakistanis have recorded a continuous decline in the current financial year and in the month of October this year, remittances were about 16 per cent less than in the same month last year. According to the data released by the Central Bank of Pakistan, October 2022 also saw a decrease of nine per cent compared to September 2022 and if the four months of the current financial year are compared with the same months of the previous financial year, a decrease of more than eight and a half per cent was observe...

November 26, 2022 at 6:23 pm | Economic Affairs

Economists say that when a country is unable to pay the installments of its external debt and the interest on it, then this country is declared bankrupt By Ghulam Haider According to media reports, the former chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the federal agency that collects taxes in Pakistan, Shabbar Zaidi, declared the country bankrupt based on the economic conditions of Pakistan. However, later he explained in his message on Twitter that the media has taken his statement out of context. Thus, Shabar Zaidi has explained his statement, but there is still a lot of discussion on this issue. Economists believe that although Pakistan's economic indicators are suffering from a bad situation, there is currently no possibi...

November 26, 2022 at 6:18 pm | Economic Affairs

Information Minister @Marriyum_A , Secretary Information Shahera Shahid, DG EP Ambreen Jan, PIO Mubashir Hasan and Eng Zamir Awan at the launching of special edition of "Economic Affairs", Magazine, published in collaboration with PID.

November 23, 2022 at 6:17 pm | Economic Affairs

Pakistan is among the few countries in the world where there is a comprehensive population policy and program roadmap at the federal and provincial levels. By Ghulam Haider According to the new statistics released by the United Nations, the world's population has crossed the eight billion mark, and out of this eight billion, almost three percent of the population consists of Pakistan. Pakistan is among the eight countries in the world that will contribute fifty percent to the total population growth in the world by 2050. Apart from Pakistan, these countries include Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Philippines and Tanzania. Currently, Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of population. China, Ind...

November 22, 2022 at 11:08 pm | Economic Affairs

November 21, 2022Islamabad (PR) Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has taken serious notice of the illegal and unwarranted leakage of tax information of the family members of General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS). This is clearly violative of the complete confidentiality of tax information that the Law provides. In view of this serious lapse on the part of to-date unknown functionaries the Finance minister has directed the SAPM on Revenue Mr. Tariq Mehmood Pasha to personally lead an immediate investigation into the violation of tax law and breach of FBR data, affix responsibility and submit a report within twenty four hours.

November 21, 2022 at 10:47 pm | Economic Affairs

Delay in release of soybean from port threatens industry Businessmen have expressed fear that 30,000 poultry farms will be closed, more than 300 feed mills will be affected and investment of about Rs1,200 billion will be stopped in the poultry sector because of delay in clearance of soybean.  “With the unavailability of soybean meal, a main ingredient in poultry feed, there are chances of scarcity of chicken meat that may threaten the country’s food security,” cautioned Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President Saqib Rafiq. In a statement, Rafiq highlighted that 130,000 tons of soybean worth Rs22 billion was lying in the open sky at port and its clearance had been delayed. The poultry industry meet...

November 21, 2022 at 11:34 am | Economic Affairs

Yield on Pakistan’s Sukuk rises to 98.96% Weighed down by weak economic fundamentals, Pakistani rupee dipped to a six-week low at Rs223.17 to a dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday as importers were unsure whether the flow of the greenback would improve in the near future. Apart from the currency’s fall, the yield on Pakistan’s global Sukuk, maturing next month, rose by 568 basis points to 98.96%, reinforcing a perception that the country might default on the Sukuk worth $1 billion. The downtick in the rupee continued for the sixth consecutive working day, as the currency dropped by 0.22% (or Rs0.50) to close at Rs223.17, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). It has cumulatively lost 0.79% (or Rs1.75) in the si...

November 21, 2022 at 11:33 am | Economic Affairs

ICCI calls for forging strong business linkages to improveties Turkey and Pakistan enjoy heart-to-heart relations and Ankara is keen to boost bilateral trade to at least up to $5 billion in the next two to three years. The current volume of trade is not reflective of the actual potential of both countries. This was stated by Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Pacaci while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The envoy said that he was assigned by his government to increase Turkey-Pakistan trade to $5 billion in three years as a first step and added that both countries had the potential to go beyond that target. “Turkey wants to enhance cooperation in trade, industry, inv...

November 21, 2022 at 11:31 am | Economic Affairs