FRANKFURT: Afghanistan’s Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis. Afghanistan parked billions of dollars in assets overseas with the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe, but that money has been frozen since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in August. A spokesman for the finance ministry said the government…
Posts published in “ECONOMY”
ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Russia talks on shareholding agreement (SHA) on the flagship $3 billion Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) are most likely to end inconclusively today (Thursday) as both the legal teams have so far failed to agree on critical elements of the contract. The shareholding agreement document is too big and it is not possible for the legal teams to finalize it by today (Thursday), a senior official at the Energy Ministry told The News.…
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday thanked Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for depositing $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank. The premier took to his official Twitter account to thank the prince for his “support” and for financing refined petroleum products with $1.2 billion. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) “has always been there for Pakistan in our difficult times including now when world confronts rising commodity prices,” added the premier. Saudi Arabia…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz for extending financial support to Pakistan. The prime minister in particular mentioned the $3 billion deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the $1.2 billion financing of refined petroleum products. “I want to thank Prince Mohammad bin Salman for supporting Pakistan with $3 bln as deposit in Pak’s central bank & financing refined petroleum…
As a source of relief on the economic front, on Wednesday it was announced that Saudi Arabia has agreed to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about $3 billion in safe deposits and $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion worth of oil supplies on deferred payments. According to reports, this agreement was reached during PM Imran Khan’s visit to the Kingdom this week. This development comes at a crucial juncture where talks between the current…
The deal with Saudi Arabia, which puts $3 billion in the state bank’s vaults and gives us a $1.2 billion deferred oil payment facility, has come just in the nick of time for Pakistan. Already the equity and money markets are factoring in a resumption of the IMF program, which will take pressure off reserves and should also ultimately do the current account deficit a world of good; without the government having to bend any…
ISLAMABAD: Finance Adviser Shaukat Tarin on Wednesday said the government was still reeling from the conditions met to receive the previous loan tranche of $500 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), dropping a hint as to why talks with the global lender could not be concluded. “I am still facing the brunt of the previous $500 million tranche,” Tarin told journalists while addressing a news conference, along with Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, to share…
ISLAMABAD – While announcing details of financial assistance of $4.2 billion from Saudi Arabia, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Wednesday said that talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be successfully completed in next couple of days. He also hinted for imposing more taxes to meet the annual tax collection target after completion of talks with the IMF. In a major development, Saudi Arabia has announced a financial assistance…
As a rule of thumb, prices of groceries and household items once increased seldom revert to their original level. Keeping that in view, the inflation situation in Pakistan looks scary. The current food price inflation is the worst to have hit the common people and the upward movement of other items is also relentless. The same applies to energy rates that have surged with intermittent intervals for the past three years. The worst part of…
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to allow Pakistan to utilise $2.78 billion, equivalent to Rs500 billion, for meeting budgetary side requirements, which were provided by the Fund for combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF usually provides Balance of Payment (BoP) support to recipient countries but in special cases it allows countries to utilize its resources for financing budgetary requirements as well. Upon the request made by Pakistan, the IMF has agreed in…
The battle for the Pak Rupee : by Dr Kamal Monnoo in The Nation, Sept 29, 2021
The Pakistani Rupee has been on a downward slope for almost 3 years now and needless to say that not only is this tangibly eroding connectivity of an average Pakistani with the outside world, it is also at the same time very punishing for the common man economically. Pakistan’s economic system—at least in theory—works on market principles, is compliant with WTO trading rules and regulations that call for an open economy for imports and is…