After a decade long hiatus, the British Airways’ first flight back landed at 11:25 am at Islamabad airport on Monday morning. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew 240 passengers from London’s Heathrow Airport to Islamabad Airport and will depart back at 11:10 am from Islamabad. British Airways will fly thrice a week between Heathrow and Islamabad during the 2019 summer.
Pakistani currency dramatically recovered a significant Rs1.42 to Rs148.21 to the US dollar in the inter-bank market following the recent massive hike by central bank in the key interest rate, taking it to 12.25%, made the rupee attractive. Banks have made record investment of PKR 3.1 trillion in three-month treasury-bills in the first auction of government securities after the rate hike.
PM Imran Khan has approved a plan to increase taxes, introduce a health tax of Rs 10 per pack and remove the third slab of FED on the cigarette manufacturing industry, in the upcoming budget for 2019-20, in a bid to to enhance revenue collection and discourage the use of cigarettes. He also decided to end Tax-free cigarette facility for important government offices.
The Pakistan stock market shed over 750 points and slipped below 35,000 points today as individual investors are mainly seen booking profits. Profit booking came after the market made a historical recovery of 7.65% last week. Investors are primarily booking profit in cement and steel stocks, which had invited significant buying last week after the announcement of Market Support Fund.
Swiss pharmaceutical company, Novartis, announced that it has received US regulatory approval for a gene therapy that treats a rare childhood disorder and has a price tag of $2.1 million, making it the most expensive drug in history. The company said Zolgensma was a one-time treatment for spinal muscular atrophy and will cost $2.125 million payable over five years.