Category: Business

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Financial Inclusion Strategy initiative on Tuesday under his government’s flagship poverty alleviation programme Ehsaas with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, in attendance, who is visiting Pakistan chiefly to discuss the programme. “We are pursuing policies that will help […]

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday announced the appointment of retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa as chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA) amid the opposition’s criticism of formation of the authority. According to a notification issued by the Establishment Division, the competent authority appointed retired Lt Gen Bajwa as chairman of the CPECA, […]

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday allowed ex-Wapda Discos to transfer the burden of Rs14.780 billion (14.56 paisa per unit) to the power consumers on account of power purchase price (PPP) adjustment for the first quarter of 2019-20. The hike in electricity prices continued unabated as Nepra has notified an increase […]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the World Bank on Tuesday signed five loan agreements of $787 million for development projects, majority of them for Karachi uplift. The agreements were signed by Economic Affairs Division secretary Noor Ahmed, World Bank’s country director in Islamabad Patchamuthu Illangovan and the representatives of governments of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the […]

QUETTA: The Balochistan Planning and Development Department has approved around Rs40 billion for new and ongoing development projects for the second quarter of the current financial year. Official sources said on Monday that a meeting presided by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani was briefed on the development projects by Additional Chief Secretary Planning and […]

KARACHI: Good trade and investment opportunities exist in Pakistan for US investors to explore, Agricu­ltural Counsellor of United States Department of Agricu­lture (USDA) Rey Santella said on Monday. Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the USDA representative said Pakistan has faced many challenges in the […]

ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has signed a Rs52.5 billion contract with a joint venture of General Electric Hydro China and Power China Zhongnan Engineering Corporation for electro-mechanical works of the Dasu hydropower project (stage-I). Dasu hydropower project’s general manager and project director Anwar ul Haque and GEHC deputy general manager Aijun […]

KARACHI: Foreign inflows into Pakistani debt instruments crossed the $1 billion mark this fiscal year, latest data released by the State Bank shows. Debt auctions have been attracting foreign inflows since July when interest rates hit a peak of 13.25 per cent, with the pace accelerating every month. Almost all the foreign inflows in government […]

ISLAMABAD: Defending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday called for global awareness campaign about the multi-billion dollar programme for its real success. He was talking to journalists after attending a seminar when asked to comment on recent statements from US Assistant Secretary Alice Wells warning Pakistan about the […]

PARIS: Two French environmental NGOs and a union group on Sunday slammed the environmental impact of Amazon, vowing to disrupt its “Black Friday” sale campaign later this week. The NGOs Attac and les Amis de la Terre, as well as the Solidaires association of unions, said in a report that the “world according to Amazon […]