Category: bussines

Pakistan has received expressions of interest from five parties, including business groups, for the sale of its financially-challenged national airline, the Privatisation Ministry said on Thursday. The bids were submitted ahead of a June 19 deadline to acquire up to 100% of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which has accumulated over $2.5 billion in losses in roughly a decade. Still, following a major restructuring, it posted its first operating profit in 21 years in the year through June 2024. The sale is seen as a test of Pakistan’s ability to shed…

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Stocks staged a strong comeback on Thursday, clawing back losses from a bruising midweek rout triggered by geopolitical uncertainty. The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed to an intraday high of 121,745.30, gaining 1,279.37 points, or 1.06%, and touched a low of 121,103.35, reflecting a rise of 637.42 points, or 0.53%. The recovery comes after the market lost over 1,500 points on Wednesday amid escalating geopolitical tensions. The index closed lower by 1,505.11 points, or 1.23%, to 120,465.93 points, down from 121,971.04 points recorded in the last session.…

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The federal cabinet on Wednesday gave the green light to Pakistan’s largest financial restructuring scheme aimed at eliminating the crippling circular debt in the power sector. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the federal cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s House and approved a series of key decisions ranging from energy sector reforms to diplomatic and institutional recognitions, a Prime Minister’s Office news release said. The debt plan, designed to restore financial stability in the energy industry without burdening the national budget, aims to eliminate Rs1,275 billion in circular debt over…

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday established a high-level committee to promote a cashless economy and accelerate the digitisation process across the country. The decision was made during a meeting chaired by the prime minister in Islamabad, where he stressed that economic digitisation is one of the government’s top reform priorities. He also instructed relevant authorities to develop and implement policy initiatives aimed at encouraging digital money transfers and payments. “The government has proposed a number of initiatives in the federal budget 2025-26 for the promotion of a cashless economy,”…

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In light of some startling disclosures by the country’s tax chief, a Senate panel on Wednesday expressed strong support for a nationwide tax on the earnings of elite private clubs “These clubs are mere hubs of luxury for a privileged few,” Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial said, briefing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla. The FBR chief said that elite recreational centres like the Islamabad Club were catering to just a few thousand people while holding billions of…

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The federal government has decided to reduce tax on solar panels to 10% after initially proposing 18% General Sales Tax (GST), Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday. “We have agreed on 10% tax on solar this year instead of 18%,” Dar said while speaking during a National Assembly session, adding that the issue has been subjected to mutual consultations. The figure revealed by the deputy PM is 8% lower than the one proposed by the government in its budget for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 where an 18% GST…

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ISLAMABAD: Careem, Uber’s ride-hailing arm in the Middle East, will suspend its Pakistan service on July 18, citing economic challenges, rising competition, and capital constraints, ending its core business in a country where it helped pioneer app-based transport nearly a decade ago. The move underscores strain on the country’s digital economy, as tech firms scale back amid high inflation, weak consumer demand, and tighter global capital flows. It ends a nearly decade-long run for Careem, which launched in 2015 and became a dominant player in app-based mobility. “This was an…

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As fears of a widening Middle East conflict grew and oil prices surged, the equity market slipped further on Wednesday. “The market is likely to remain choppy for couple of weeks until clarity is noticed on regional tensions between Iran and Israel and its possible repercussion on Pakistan’s geopolitical alignment,” said independent investment and economic analyst AAH Soomro. “Also further uptick in oil prices to 80s or beyond and impact on Strait of Hormuz will materially adversely impact Pakistan’s economic and inflation outlook,” he added. The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX)…

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The Balochistan government on Tuesday announced a Rs1.028 trillion budget for fiscal year 2025–26 (FY26), with a Rs42 billion surplus and an emphasis on public welfare and relief measures. Tabling the budget, Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani said Rs642 billion had been set aside for non-development expenses, while Rs249.5 billion was proposed for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in FY26. Nosherwani said the total estimated expenditures for the next FY26 were Rs986 billion, while the volume of current operating expenditure had dropped from Rs43 billion to Rs33 billion.…

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To meet future cargo demands, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed authorities to connect the Reko Diq project in Balochistan to the Pakistan Railways network by 2028. The move is key to fast-tracking the development of one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold deposits, which are hoped to generate around $70 billion in free cash flow and $90 billion in operating cash flow. American miner Barrick Gold owns a 50% stake in the Reko Diq mine, and the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan own the other…

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