Pakistani authorities did not consult with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff ahead of announcing their recent fuel subsidy proposal, the lender’s resident representative said. “The Pakistani authorities did not consult with the IMF staff ahead of announcing their recent fuel subsidy,” Resident Representative of IMF Esther Perez said in an interview on Tuesday. Prime مزید پڑھیں

A Russian technical delegation will hold talks today (Tuesday) with Pakistan State Oil (PSO) officials in Karachi, to give final touches to a crude oil import deal at a government-to-government level (GtG). “In case of successful talks, both the state-owned nominated companies will sign the commercial agreement the next day (March 22),” said the official مزید پڑھیں

Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik said on Monday that the government will charge Rs100 more for petrol from the affluent so that relief could be provided to the low-income segments in fuel tariff. “We will make petrol expensive for the rich and cheaper for the poor … the higher prices being paid مزید پڑھیں

The government raised the price of petrol to Rs272 per litre, adding pressure on the inflation-weary people. The Finance Division, in its fortnight bulletin, attributed the price hike to the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and an increase in the prices registered by Platts Singapore. “Accordingly the price of MS(Petrol) has مزید پڑھیں

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has given yet another date for inking the deal with the International Monetary Fund. This time, according to his hopes, the agreement would be signed in the “next few days”. “We seem to be very close to signing the staff level agreement [with IMF] hopefully Inshallah in the next few days,” مزید پڑھیں

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar says that the Chinese Bank ICBC has approved rollover of 1.3 billion US dollar loan after completing the necessary formalities. In a tweet tonight, he said Pakistan will receive this amount in three instalments. The first instalment of 500 million dollars has been received by the State Bank of Pakistan. The مزید پڑھیں

The Pakistan rupee gained its ground against the US dollar after the market gained hope on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s assurances of striking a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week. The local currency appreciated by Rs9.91 in the interbank market during the intraday trade and was changing hands at 275.18 against the مزید پڑھیں

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Thursday that it had increased the interest rate by 300 basis points (bps) to 20 per cent — the highest level since October 1996 — citing rising inflation. The announcement came after a meeting of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The central bank said the decision مزید پڑھیں

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that Pakistan’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) related to the completion of the ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme were near conclusion and the staff-level agreement with the global lender will be signed by next week. The government is in a race against time مزید پڑھیں

The Pakistani rupee’s value declined sharply in the interbank trading on Thursday with the local currency falling by Rs18.89 against the US dollar. According to forex dealers, the local currency was currently trading at Rs285 in the interbank market against USD, an all-time high. In the open market, the greenback was being traded at Rs290, مزید پڑھیں