AgenciesRIYADH, Nov. 14—Gulf Arab leaders gather on Tuesday for an annual summit expected to stress cohesion after a deep rift, at a time of regional concern over Iran and rising economic rivalry within the oil-producing bloc.The Saudi crown prince toured Gulf states ahead of the summit, which comes nearly a year after Riyadh put an end to a 3-1/2-year Arab boycott of Qatar that had shattered the US-allied Gulf Cooperation Council.Saudi Arabia and non-Gulf Egypt have restored diplomatic ties with Doha but the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have yet to do so, though Abu Dhabi has moved to mend fences."I have to admit there are areas that will need some time, but I mean practical, functional (Gulf) cooperation is back on track," senior U...
December 14, 2021 at 1:37 pm | Economic Affairs
AgenciesOil prices eked out small gains on Tuesday, recouping losses earlier in the day triggered by investor worries about demand after renewed restrictions were imposed in Europe and Asia amid a rise in coronavirus cases.Brent crude oil futures gained 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $74.64 a barrel by 0732 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures increased by 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $71.48.“Energy traders don’t want to bet against OPEC+ but all the short-term risks from Omicron to Fed tightening is proving to be very disruptive to the short-term outlook for oil prices,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA.“The virus spread across Europe is delivering a bigger hit than expected and when you calculate family gatherings...
December 14, 2021 at 1:35 pm | Economic Affairs
AgenciesThe dollar scaled a one-week high versus a basket of major rivals on Tuesday, supported by expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve meeting this week and haven demand amid continued uncertainty about the Omicron coronavirus variant.Dollar index , which measures the currency against six peers, rose as high as 96.464 for the first time since Dec. 7 before trading 0.04% firmer at 96.404.The risk-sensitive Australian dollar dropped as much as 0.64% to a one-week low.The Fed’s two-day meeting that begins later Tuesday headlines a string of central banks announcing policy decisions this week, including the European Central Bank and Bank of England on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday.The U.S. central bank is expected to announc...
December 14, 2021 at 1:32 pm | Economic Affairs
December 11, 2021Islamabad (Press Release)Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood received a four-member delegation of U.S. Senate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, today. The delegation included Senators Angus King, Richard Burr, John Cornyn and Benjamin Sasse.Welcoming the Senate delegation to Pakistan, the Foreign Secretary underscored that Pakistan valued its long-standing relationship with the United States and wanted to further deepen bilateral ties based on shared interests. He emphasized that deeper engagement between the two countries was pivotal for peace, security and development in the region. Highlighting Pakistan’s pivot to geo-economics, the Foreign Secretary emphasized that Pakistan welcomed enhanced bilateral trade and greate...
December 12, 2021 at 6:47 am | Economic Affairs
December 11,2021Rawalpindi ( ISPR)Members of US Senate Armed Services and intelligence Committees headed by Senator Angus King, called on General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) today. Delegation also included Senator Richard Burr, Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ben Sasse. Ms Angela Aggeler, US Charge d’ Affaires to Pakistan accompanied the delegation.During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, current security situation in Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed. COAS said that Pakistan desires to maintain productive bilateral engagement with all the regional players and wished for peaceful, diversified, sustained relations. COAS also reiterated the urgency for global convergence on Afgh...
December 11, 2021 at 9:51 pm | Economic Affairs
EA ReportLAHORE, Dec 09– Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the negative territory, amid a lack of positive triggers, as the index lost 328 points, while volumes declined from the previous session on Thursday.Benchmark KSE 100 index recorded an intraday high of 43,996.62 registering a high of 149.75 points during initial hours. However, it fell to day’s low of 43,273.76 losing 573.11 pts.At close on Thursday, the index settled lower by 328.03 points or 0.75% at 43,518.84.“The devaluation of rupee further dented investors’ confidence,” said Capital Stake in its post-market comment. PKR dropped to a new low of 177.61 against the USD at the close in the inter-bank on Thursday.Meanwhile, the central b...
December 9, 2021 at 7:17 pm | Economic Affairs
EA ReportLAHORE, Dec. 09– Pakistani rupee reached a fresh low against US dollar Thursday, depreciating yet another 0.10% in the inter-bank market.According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), PKR closed at 177.61 against the USD after a day-on-day depreciation of 18 paisas or 0.10%. On Wednesday, PKR closed at the then-record low of 177.43 against the USD.The fall comes as pressure mounts on the currency amid a widening trade deficit and falling foreign exchange reserves.The country’s trade deficit widened by 133.99% on a year-on-year basis and stood at $4.963 billion in November 2021 compared to $2.121 billion in November 2020. Imports witnessed 82.83% growth on a year-on-year basis in November 2021 and stood at $7.847 billion compared t...
December 9, 2021 at 6:25 pm | Economic Affairs
December 8,2021Islamabad(Press Release)The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Vienna organized a webinar today in collaboration with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and State Bank of Pakistan for promotion of Roshan Digital Account initiative launched by the government of Pakistan. It was attended by members of the Pakistani community and representatives of community organizations. In his remarks, Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher, said that overseas Pakistanis were an invaluable asset for Pakistan and the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) was providing them a better opportunity to participate in Pakistan’s economy and strengthen their bond with Pakistan. He said that it was third webinar of the Embassy for promotion of RDA and he wo...
December 8, 2021 at 8:26 pm | Economic Affairs
December 8,2021Peshawar (Press Release) The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has urged the government to abolish Saturday’s holiday in government offices to ease difficulties of the business community and facilitate them.The demand was made by the SCCI president Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad while chairing a joint meeting of traders and industrialists, here on Wednesday.The meeting was told that owing to the closure of government offices and commercial banks on Saturday, the business community has faced severe difficulties, besides it was also badly affected trade and economic activities.Therefore, the participants demanded to immediately abolish Saturday’s holiday and to facilitate the business community.Hasnain Khurshid on the...
December 8, 2021 at 8:19 pm | Economic Affairs
EA ReportLAHORE, Dec. 07— Pakistan's rupee was registered yet another historic low against US dollar, depreciating 0.18% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the PKR closed at 176.79 against the USD after a day-on-day depreciation of 31 paisas or 0.18%. Market showed little excitement a day ago, after getting $3 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia as PKR made marginal gains to appreciate 35 paisas against USD.analysts also expressed concern over the bulging imports bill, which hit $8 billion in the month of November. “The $8 billion import figure is unsustainable, and there is no other option than to curtail it,” Khan said, calling for proper lockdown on the import of unnecessary items.On Friday,...
December 8, 2021 at 12:11 am | Economic Affairs
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate