World

29 September, 2021Islamabad (Press Release) Ambassador of Japan H.E Mr. Kuninori MATSUDA called on Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force in his office today. The visiting dignitary lauded the professionalism of PAF personnel and the exceptional progress made by PAF over the years, especially through indigenization. The Air Chief highlighted that both countries enjoy cordial relations and reiterated his resolve to further enhance the existing bilateral cooperation between the air forces of the two countries. Various matters of mutual interest and professional cooperation also came under discussion during the meeting.

September 29, 2021 at 8:47 pm | Economic Affairs

September 29,2021Islamabad: (Press Release)The Government of Japan has conferred the 2021 Spring Imperial Decoration, “The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette” upon Mr. Syed Feroz Alam Shah, Honorary Technical Advisor, Federal Board of Investment (BoI) and Director of National Engineering Corporation (NEC), in recognition of his dedicated contributions to promoting economic relations and mutual understanding between Japan and Pakistan. H.E. Mr. MATSUDA Kuninori, the Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, on behalf of the Government of Japan on September 29 conferred the imperial decoration “The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette” upon Mr. Syed Feroz Alam Shah. The conferral ceremony was held at his official re...

September 29, 2021 at 8:39 pm | Economic Affairs

NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept.27 — U.S. dollar gained for a second straight session on Monday, bolstered by the rise in Treasury yields.The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six major rivals, rose 0.2% to 93.442.The greeback also extended gains after data showed new orders and shipments of key U.S.-made capital goods increased solidly in August, rising 0.5% in August amid strong demand for computers and electronic products.But the market has been more focused on the U.S. Treasury market.Yields ahead of a slew of Federal Reserve speakers this week who could reinforce expectations of the start of asset purchase tapering before the end of the year.Fed speakers will be in focus this week, led by Chair Jerome Powell, who will joi...

September 27, 2021 at 8:56 pm | Economic Affairs

Islamabad, Beijing (Press Release) At the occasion of 11th Annual International Public Health Conference on Contemporary medicines, Health Technologies and Vaccines for Emerging Public Health Risks organized by the Health Services Academy(HSA) Islamabad held here, Vice Chancellor of HSA Prof. Shahzad Ali Khan signed an MoU with Dr. Muhammad Shahbaz, Chairman China Pakistan Health Corridor (CPHC) for joining CPHC. National Coordinator of CPMA Mr. Sohail Chaudhry signed MoU on behalf of CPHC. In a historic move,Wuhan University announced at the occasion the intent of cooperation with HSA in teaching, student exchange, and joint research, which will be based on a joint health research center that will be explored in the future, under the umbr...

September 26, 2021 at 2:07 pm | Economic Affairs

TAIPEI (sep. 26– Chinese President Xi Jinping marked situation in the Taiwan Strait, “complex and grim”, in a congratulatory letter on Sunday wrote to the newly elected leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party, who has pledged to renew talks with Beijing.At present, the situation in the Taiwan Strait is complex and grim. All the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation must work together with one heart and go forward together,” wrote Xi, who is also head of the Communist Party.He expressed hope that both parties could cooperate on “seeking peace in the Taiwan Strait, seeking national reunification and seeking national revitalisation”.Chu, who badly lost the 2016 presidential election to current President Tsai Ing-wen, respond...

September 26, 2021 at 1:50 pm | Economic Affairs

BERLIN Sept. 26 —Germans polls on Sunday in a national election too close to call, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) mounting a strong challenge to retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.Merkel has been in power since 2005 but plans to step down after the election, making the vote an era-changing event reut.rs/3hfDamG to set the future course of Europe's largest economy.A fractured electorate means that after the election, leading parties will sound each other out before embarking on more formal coalition negotiations reut.rs/2ZeqYw3 that could take months, leaving Merkel, 67, in charge in a caretaker role.Campaigning in his home constituency of Aachen alongside Merkel, conservative candidate Armin here said on Sat...

September 26, 2021 at 1:50 pm | Economic Affairs

September 24, 2021New York (Press Release) Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM was invited to speak in this year's side event to the 2021 UN General Assembly, organized by OPHI and the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN). The theme of this year's event was "Envisioning a More Equitable Future: Using Multidimensional Poverty Indices as a Policy Tool". The event convened global leaders with a demonstrated commitment to tackling the multidimensional effects of the pandemic on the lives of people living in poverty. Speakers shared innovations in poverty measurement and reduction, as well as challenges and lessons learned from using MPIs to respond to the crisis and ensure that no one is left behind. At the session, the leadership pa...

September 25, 2021 at 6:04 pm | Economic Affairs

NEW YORK, Sept 25– Oil prices rose for a third week in a row to a near three-year high on Friday as global output disruptions have forced energy companies to pull large amounts of crude out of inventories.Brent closes at highest since October 2018, NY ULSD futures hit highest in almost three years, U.S. oil/gas rig count rises for 14th month - Baker Hughes, whereas Iran says it will return to talks on nuclear deal soonThe rally was slightly dampened by China's first public sale of state crude reserves.Brent futures rose 84 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $78.09 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 68 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $73.98.That was the highest close for Brent since October 2018 and for WTI since July 20...

September 25, 2021 at 10:28 am | Economic Affairs

LONDON, Sept 24 — Bitcoin fell nearly 5% on Friday after China's central bank said it would crack down on cryptocurrency trading, banning overseas exchanges from providing services to mainland investors.The largest cryptocurrency was last down 4.6% at $42,874, with smaller coins that typically trade in tandem with bitcoin also tumbling. Ether fell over 8% while XRP slipped 7%.The People's Bank of China also said it will bar financial institutions, payment companies and internet firms from facilitating cryptocurrency trading, and will strengthen monitoring of risks from such activities."Crypto markets are in an extremely frail state overall, and these sorts of downswings speak to that; there's a degree of panic in the air," said Joseph Ed...

September 24, 2021 at 3:53 pm | Economic Affairs

SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI, Sept 24 — China Evergrande inched closer on Friday to the potential default that investors fear, missing a payment deadline in one of the clearest indications yet that the developer whose debt struggles have spooked markets is in dire trouble.The company owes $305 billion, has run short of cash and investors are worried a collapse could pose systemic risks to China's financial system and reverberate around the world.A deadline for paying $83.5 million in bond interest passed without remark from Evergrande and bondholders had not been paid nor heard from the company, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters.The firm is now in uncharted waters and enters a 30-day grace period. It will default if that passes w...

September 24, 2021 at 2:43 pm | Economic Affairs

TOKYO: 24 Sep. — Oil prices climbed up Friday for a fourth straight day as global supply concerns following powerful storms in the United States, with China's first public sale of state crude reserves causing a momentary blip in the rise.Brent crude was up 12 cents, or 0.2%, at $77.37 a barrel, by 0321 GMT, after touching two-month high on Thursday and closing at its highest since October 2018.US oil was up 6 cents, or 0.1%, at $73.36 a barrel, having closed 1.5% in the previous session, the highest since the start of August.Oil companies in the United States have struggled to fully restore deliveries to the eastern seaboard after storms damaged facilities on the Gulf coast."A prolonged recovery from Hurricane Ida disruptions and robust ...

September 24, 2021 at 1:40 pm | Economic Affairs

SINGAPORE, 23 Sep.— Oil prices stretch out on Thursday, riding higher on a bigger-than-expected draw US crude inventories besides growing fuel demand.In addition, production remains hampered in Gulf of Mexico after two hurricanes.A broad plunge back into risk assets also supported market as concerns eased over a potential default by huge property developer China Evergrande and its possible fallout on the world's second-largest economy.Brent crude rose 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $76.45 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $72.48 a barrel by 0552 GMT, while.Both contracts jumped 2.5% on Wednesday after data from the US Energy Information Administration showed US crude stocks fell by 3.5 million barrel...

September 23, 2021 at 3:25 pm | Economic Affairs

HONG KONG: 23 Sept.— Asian markets stemmed Thursday as concerns of troubled property giant, Evergrande, receded for now, while Federal Reserve plan to begin scaling back its ultra-loose monetary policy also cheered investors.Positive start to day followed a rally of around one percent for all three main Wall Street indexes, where investors also welcomed a Fed statement on tapering its vast bond-buying programme.Hong Kong led advances as it reopened after a midweek break to catch up with news that Evergrande had agreed a plan to repay interest to its domestic bondholders, soothing worries of a default that have raised talk of a hammer blow to the Chinese economy.And while Wednesday's statement was vaguely worded -- not detailing how much ...

September 23, 2021 at 12:29 pm | Economic Affairs

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE: 23 Sept.— China Evergrande agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond Wednesday, soothing fears of imminent contagion from the debt-laden property developer while Chinese Central Bank injected cash into the banking system.Evergrande, Asia’s biggest junk bond issuer, is so entangled with China’s broader economy that its fate has kept global stock and bond markets on tenterhooks as late debt payments could trigger so-called cross-defaults.Many financial institutions have exposure to Evergrande through direct loans and indirect holdings, while any defaults will also trigger sell-offs in the high-yield credit market.In an effort to reassure investors, the People’s Bank of China’s injected 90 billion yua...

September 23, 2021 at 11:07 am | Economic Affairs

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE: 23 Sept.— China Evergrande agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond Wednesday, soothing fears of imminent contagion from the debt-laden property developer while Chinese Central Bank injected cash into the banking system.Evergrande, Asia’s biggest junk bond issuer, is so entangled with China’s broader economy that its fate has kept global stock and bond markets on tenterhooks as late debt payments could trigger so-called cross-defaults.Many financial institutions have exposure to Evergrande through direct loans and indirect holdings, while any defaults will also trigger sell-offs in the high-yield credit market.In an effort to reassure investors, the People’s Bank of China’s injected 90 billion yua...

September 23, 2021 at 11:05 am | Economic Affairs

October 22,2021Islamabad (ISPR) Opening ceremony of the exercise Peace Mission under the ambit of SCO platform held at Donguz training area, Orenburg Region,Russia. Colonel General Alexander Pavlovich Lapin Commander of Central Military District Russian Armed Forces was the chief guest at the opening ceremony. Troops from all Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states are participating in the exercise under extremely challenging field environment. Belarus is taking part in the exercise as an observer.Tri Services contingent of Pakistan Army is participating in the exercise.The exercise is focused on Anti Terrorist operations and best practices in Counter terrorism domain.

September 22, 2021 at 5:46 pm | Economic Affairs