Pakistan’s largest commercial bank in the private sector, HBL, faces allegations of facilitating terror financing during the 2010-19 period, a charge that the bank said it is contesting “fully and vigorously” in a US court. Media reports suggested that some 370 individual complainants had demanded compensation from HBL. This subsequently triggered a big fall in the bank’s share price on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday.
The top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official in Islamabad has confirmed Pakistan had met the final precondition for the seventh and eighth review under a $6 billion loan program. Pakistan met the last condition by increasing the petroleum development levy (PDL) on July 31. The PDL was raised by Rs10 on petrol and by Rs5 each on HSD, kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO).
Pakistan’s two leading car assemblers, Toyota and Suzuki, plan partial plant shutdowns next month due to unavailability of raw material amid import restrictions and exchange rate volatility. The freefalling of rupee has had a cascading effect on industries that rely on imports to complete finished goods as the central bank delayed clearance of letters of credit with banks facing a shortage of dollars, affecting their ability to import materials.
Pakistan’s top performing startup, Airlift, announced on Tuesday that it had permanently shut operations in the country after day-to-day running finances dried up and an attempt to raise fresh funds failed last week. The grocery delivery startup had raised the largest financing of $85 million in the country’s history in the Series B funding round in August 2021.
Moody’s Investors Service – one of the world’s top three credit rating agencies – on Thursday downgraded Pakistan’s outlook from stable to negative. The decision to change the outlook to negative is driven by Pakistan’s heightened external vulnerability risk and uncertainty around the sovereign’s ability to secure additional external financing to meet its needs, the rating agency said in its report.
Tesla Inc. added about $84 billion to its stock-market value, more than Ford Motor Co.’s entire market capitalization. The company is the biggest gainer on the NYSE FANG+ Index this year. On Monday, the shares closed up 8% at $1,091.84, the highest level since Jan. 12. The value addition took place after the electric-vehicle maker said it is planning a second stock split in about two years.
Pakistan’s economy created 5.5 million jobs during the past three years –on an average 1.84 million jobs a year, which is far higher than yearly average of creation of new jobs during the 2008-18 decade. The data on the employment boom was revealed by Labour Force Survey (LFS) published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has granted approval to Burj Energy International Management, a UAE-based renewable energy producer, to float the South Asian nation’s first green energy modaraba worth Rs1 billion (approximately $5.5 million), the watchdog and company officials said. Modarabas are equity-like financing vehicles that are a small but significant part of Islamic finance in the world’s second-largest Muslim nation.
Pakistan is expected to launch a Rs1 billion ($5.6 million) technology startup fund this month to support its startup ecosystem by providing seed funding to around 50 enterprises every year. Prime Minister Imran Khan last month announced establishing Pakistan Technology Startup Fund, allowing tax exemptions and 100 percent foreign exchange retention for IT companies and freelancers registered with Pakistan Software Export Board.
Pakistan’s textile exports are poised to surge 40% from last year to a record $21 billion in the 12 months ending June, as the country gained an edge over South Asian rivals during pandemic. According to Abdul Razak Dawood, commerce adviser to PM Imran Khan, the figure would expand to $26 billion in the next fiscal year, surpassing the nation’s total exports last year.