Business

Bulls stage comeback at PSX on Ishaq Dar’s cues

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Investors cheer Dar’s assurance Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from Paris club.
Benchmark KSE-100 index traded between hope and despair.
Investors kept a close watch on SBP’s decision on monetary policy.

KARACHI: The bulls staged a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday cheering Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s assurance that Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from the Paris club.

Constant assurance from the top leadership that Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from Paris Club creditor nations enticed market participants.

Moreover, Dar dismissed market rumours that the government might extend maturities for its bonds, saying that the country will fulfil all multilateral, international and bond obligations.

The benchmark KSE-100 index traded between hope and despair, which eventually let loose the bulls, who pulled the bourse into the green.

Investors kept a close watch on the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision on the monetary policy — which was later kept unchanged at 15% for the next seven weeks.

The KSE-100 index gained since the morning bell rang, but some dips were seen at regular intervals. The downtrend turned steeper at midday bulls managed to regain control.

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 42,211.64 points with an increase of 126.39 points or 0.30%.

Benchmark KSE-100 index intra-day trading curve. — PSX data portal

Topline Securities in its post-market commentary noted that the KSE-100 index largely traded in the positive zone due to Dar’s statement regarding Pakistan not planning to seek a debt restructuring.

Shares of 336 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 161 scrips closed in the green, 149 in the red, and 26 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes declined to 240.19 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 313.34 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.53 billion.

Worldcall Telecom was the volume leader with 31.15 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs1.63. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 27.14 million shares traded, gaining Rs1.21 to close at Rs17.45 and TRG Pakistan with 26.74 million shares gaining Rs7.29 to close at Rs151.43.

Business

Donald Lu visits Finance Minister Aurangzeb at the World Bank headquarters.

Published

8 hours ago

Farwa

Wednesday saw Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb meet US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst.

The finance minister briefed US officials on Pakistan’s reform plan at the World Bank. Meeting both delegations decided to improve bilateral ties.

Meeting topics included alternative energy, agriculture, climate, and tech industry. Boosting the Pakistan-US economic partnership was another finance ministry priority.

With US officials, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb addressed IT, agriculture, and other business potential.

Pakistan would collaborate with the US International Development Finance Corporation and Exim Bank, according to Muhammad Aurangzeb.

His name is Donald Lu.
Over 30 years of US government service for Lu as a foreign service officer.

What Pakistan calls the “cipher” dispute involves the American official. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder claimed that a supposed official letter between Washington and Islamabad proved his ousting as PM was a US conspiracy.

Washington has strongly refuted Khan’s allegations.

The State Department’s top South and Central Asia diplomat is Donald Lu, assistant secretary of state.

Business

Huge investment potential exists in the telecom and IT sectors. Shaza Fatima

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

According to Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication, there are numerous investment prospects in Pakistan’s IT and telecom sectors.

She noted that the current administration is dedicated to fostering foreign investment in the nation, in line with the Prime Minister’s goal.

According to a news release, CEOs Wateen Adil Rashid and Muhammad Shahbaz Khan of Taavun (Pvt) Limited, who paid her a visit on Tuesday, spoke with Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

She declared that the private sector would receive complete support because it is essential to growing our exports.

Regarding youngsters, she stated that they are our greatest asset and that efforts are being made to further their growth.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates was thanked by Shaza Fatima for his particular interest in promoting additional investment in Pakistan’s telecom industry.

Business

WB pledges complete support for changes aimed at stabilizing Pakistan’s economy.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Muhammad Aurangzeb, met with President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, according to a press release from the ministry of finance here. During the meeting, the minister discussed Pakistan’s progress under the nine-month Standby Arrangement (SBA) program as well as ongoing reforms in priority areas of taxation, energy, and privatization.

According to the statement, the minister also extended an invitation to the president to visit Pakistan, and both parties acknowledged the necessity of a rolling 10-year country framework plan.

The minister also talked on safeguarding Pakistan’s eligibility for concessional funding and future project pipeline during a meeting with Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The chief executive officer of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Scott Nathan, also met with the minister of finance.

They discussed during the conference how DFC may increase its investments in Pakistan after resolving unresolved conflicts in a cooperative manner.

According to the minister, the government is supporting creative financing strategies to maximize PPP potential and private sector participation.

According to the statement, he gave his word that the government will do everything in its power to assist investment projects by both foreign and local businesses in Pakistan.