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AFP 21 Sep 2021 UNITED NATIONS: President Joe Biden will tell the world Tuesday that the United States wants to avoid a Cold War with China, while pivoting from continuous post-9/11 conflicts to an era of US-led diplomacy.Biden's first speech as US president to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York faces a tough reception.He has spent his presidency branding countries like China and Russia as the opposing side in a generational, global struggle between autocrats and democracies.Close ally France is also furious at what it calls backstabbing by Washington in a defense pact that will see Australia acquire US nuclear submarine technology, while ditching previous plans for FrenchThrow in the hangover from the traumatic Afghani...

September 21, 2021 at 1:04 pm | Economic Affairs

Agencies —21 Sep.Spot gold sliped 0.1% to $1,762.08 per ounce by 0340 GMT Tuesday, as cautious investors braced for the US Federal Reserve's guidance for tapering and interest rate hikes, while risk-off sentiment stoked by China Evergrande's debt woes limited declines in the safe-haven metal.Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,762.08 per ounce by 0340 GMT. Prices recovered from a more than one-month low of $1,741.86 on Monday as concerns over the fallout from property developer Evergrande's solvency issues spooked stock markets worldwide and drove investors to safe-haven assets.US gold futures were flat at $1,763.70.Bullion is considered as a hedge against inflation and currency debasement likely to result from the widespread stimulus. A hawkis...

September 21, 2021 at 1:00 pm | Economic Affairs

Islamabad, September 20, 2021Press Release : President Dr Arif Alvi has urged the need for raising awareness among women about the breast cancer, its early detection and treatment so as to save precious human lives. He regretted that due to lack of education and awareness, the breast cancer mortality rate in Pakistan was almost 50% which was quite alarming. The President made these remarks while chairing a meeting on breast awareness campaign through video link from Karachi. The meeting was attended by SAPM on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, Provincial Health Ministers from Punjab and KPK, WHO representative in Pakistan, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Chief Secretary of Balochistan and Sindh and representatives of PIMS and Shifa International Hospital, ...

September 20, 2021 at 10:23 pm | Economic Affairs

September 20, 2021Vienna ( Press Release)Delegations of Pakistan and Kazakhstan held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 65th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, today. While the Pakistan delegation was led by Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Muhammad Naeem, the Kazakh side was led by Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mr. Akan Rakhmetullin.Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher, also participated in the meeting.The two sides exchanged ideas on possible collaboration in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the areas of health, agriculture and industry, under the auspices of IAEA. It was ...

September 20, 2021 at 8:52 pm | Economic Affairs

EA ReportKarachi: Sep. 20 — The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the key interest rate by 25 basis points following alarming yet highly anticipated levels of Current Account (CAD)Policymakers seek to find a balance between Pakistan's economic growth and its bulging trade deficit while taming inflationary pressures.SBP previously increased the interest rate in July 2019, when it took it to the maximum level of 13.25%. and gradually reduced the key rate, eventually bringing it to 7% in June 2020 and maintaining it in the next six monetary policy announcements.The interest rate now stands at 7.25%.Earlier, some market participants said they expected the central bank to maintain the key intere...

September 20, 2021 at 5:31 pm | Economic Affairs

Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver policy address to the high-level segment of the 76th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver the policy address during the session through a video statement, outlining Pakistan’s perspective on key global and regional issues. Separately, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be visiting New York from 21-25 September 2021. During the visit, he will participate in various high-level meetings and side events, and deliver a Talk at the Council on Foreign Relations. The Foreign Minister will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts and the UN leadership. He will also interact with a cross-section of the international media and meet the dyna...

September 20, 2021 at 5:28 pm | Economic Affairs

20 September 2021Vienna ( Press Release)Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Muhammad Naeem and Head of Turkish Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK) Prof. Dr Abdulkadir Balikci Inaugurated Pakistan’s national exhibition stand at the annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, today. Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications Ms. Najat Mokhtar also attended the inauguration. She said that Pakistan had great made strides in harnessing nuclear technologies for pursuing socioeconomic development. She appreciated Pakistan’s decades long collaboration with the IAEA. Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan’s Permanent Represen...

September 20, 2021 at 5:18 pm | Economic Affairs

Agencies. 20 Sep.Most stock markets in Gulf region kneeled down on Monday early trade, replicating weakness in Asian shares and oil prices, with Dubai leading declines.Oil dropped more than $1 a barrel to below $75 on Monday as rising risk aversion weighed on stock markets and boosted the US dollar, while more US Gulf oil output came back online in the wake of two hurricanes.Asian shares skidded ahead of a week packed with global central bank meetings, with Evergrande's troubles adding to growing concerns about the health of China's economy after Beijing's recent crackdown on tech firms had haunted the region.Oil prices extended losses from the previous session after energy companies in the US Gulf of Mexico resumed production after back-t...

September 20, 2021 at 5:14 pm | Economic Affairs

EA Report.Lahore : 20 Sep. — Only a single trading house showed its interest to participate international tender of buying 200,000 tonnes of sugar from Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) Monday, officials confirmed.No purchase of the white sugar sought has yet been reported, except Dreyfus trading house for 50,000 tonnes instead of 200,000 tonnes.Whereas, on the other hand, the offer of $670.00 a tonne c&f, was said to have been made, they said.Prices were sharply up from the $637.10 tonne c&f Pakistan paid in its last sugar purchase reported on Aug. 31. On Sept. 16, white sugar futures hit their highest level in 4-1/2 years on signs that global demand might be picking up, coupled with concerns about supplies from top producer...

September 20, 2021 at 2:48 pm | Economic Affairs

Agencies — 20 SepBEIJING/SINGAPORE: Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, kept its ranking as China's top crude supplier for a ninth straight month in August as major producers relaxed production cuts.Saudi oil arrivals surged 53% from a year earlier to 8.06 million tonnes, or 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.That compares with 1.58 million bpd in July and 1.24 million bpd in August last year.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, decided in July to ease production cuts and increase supply by a further 2 million bpd, adding 0.4 million bpd a month from August until December. In July, OPEC output increased by...

September 20, 2021 at 2:14 pm | Economic Affairs