Business

Flood impacted Pakistan’s economy by $10b: Miftah Ismail

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail says flash floods caused at least $10 billion in damage.
Says various sectors of country’s already struggling economy have been impacted.
Islamabad will first seek financial assistance from the international community.

Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail has said that the flash floods have caused at least $10 billion in damages to various sectors of the country’s already struggling economy.

Talking to the media, Miftah said that these were preliminary assessments that could change after conducting field surveys. Miftah stated that he does not currently have details on the losses suffered by each sector of the economy.

When asked if the country had taken the donors’ initial assessment of damage seriously, the minister replied in the negative. According to top officials, Islamabad will first seek financial assistance from the international community, and then it will assess the damages separately or jointly with the donors to determine the exact figures, but first and foremost, the government will focus on all-out relief efforts to rescue the victims.

In 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods, Pakistan and donors assessed the losses caused to different sectors of economy, and then the donors helped Islamabad during the reconstruction phase after relief and rehabilitation.

Now, the same strategy would be adopted. Initial assessments show that more than 1,000 people and millions of livestock have died in different parts of the country, besides damage to an untold number of houses, hotels and roods in major flood-hit areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and KP.

Miftah says PTI has put country’s economy at risk for politicking; hits back at Fawad, Hammad; says IK’s lust for power knows no bounds News Desk adds: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Sunday fired back at PTI leaders Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Hammad Azhar, saying the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has put the country’s economy at risk and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s lust for power has no bounds.

The finance minister, firing back at PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain for his critical remarks, tweeted: “Chaudhry sb, you have endangered Pakistan’s economy just for the sake of politics. This is very saddening. You were not like this before but the PTI has left very bad impact on you.”

Earlier, PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain tweeted: “It is simple that we can’t chop off our hands and give them to the IMF. No one trusts your corrupt government. Therefore put all the conditions of IMF programme before the nation. After getting the loans, you will run away, while the nation will have to bear the brunt. Therefore, there should be full disclosure of the IMF programme.”

Hitting back at PTI leader Hammad Azhar, Miftah tweeted: “You know this is absolutely untrue. Fawad said on TV a day before that such letters would be coming. Your successor called KP’s & Punjab’s finance ministries for these letters. Punjab refused. KP complied. Then, PTI leaked it. Shame really. IK’s lust for power knows no bounds.”

Earlier, Hammad Azhar tweeted: “From Miftah leaking Jhagra’s letter just before IMF meeting to the entire PDM doing nothing but photoshoots on the flood catastrophe. These artificial rulers are not only incompetent but also disgraceful.”

Business

PSX surpasses the historical 71,500-point threshold.

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

Investors celebrated as the PSX finally crossed the historic 71,500 point threshold, signalling a critical turning point in the state of the economy in the country.

The KSE-100 index jumped more than 740 points, soaring to a record high of 71,650 points, demonstrating the tenacity and optimism that pervaded the Pakistani financial market.

This outstanding accomplishment indicates strong growth possibilities for the foreseeable future and demonstrates investors’ faith in the nation’s economic prospects.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s KSE-100 index saw a minor decline of 60.92 points on Friday, or 0.09 percent, and ended the day at 70,483.66 points.

In the foreign exchange market, the US dollar lost value in relation to the Pakistani rupee at the same time.

Currency dealers claim that on the first day of the workweek, the value of the US dollar dropped by 11 paisas to Rs278.20 in the interbank market, significantly strengthening the rupee.

Business

Outsourcing: Investors from Turkey stop by the airport in Karachi

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

Turkish investors, who are interested in outsourcing Pakistan’s airport industry, sent a high-level team to Karachi Airport.

The domestic arrival and departure lounge at Karachi airport was visited by the Turkish investment group, according to information. The investors were briefed about the workings of the Karachi airport by a delegation of the Civil Aviation Authority, headed by Secretary Aviation Saif Anjum.

An update on the volume of people and business leaving the airport was also provided to Turkish investors. It is anticipated that the delegation would tour the cargo terminal and CAA headquarters today.

The nation’s three main airports, Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, were formerly to be outsourced by the federal government.

Interest in outsourcing three of Pakistan’s airports has been expressed by local parties as well as investors from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Turkiye.

The timeframe for proposal submission for Islamabad International Airport’s outsourcing was extended by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) earlier on March 21.

The government’s top objective in the process of outsourcing international airports, according to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, is openness.

First, he stated that Pakistan is willing to participate in a public-private partnership to outsource a portion of the airport’s commercial activities.

Business

The inaugural flight of Azerbaijan Airlines is between Baku and Karachi.

Published

4 days ago

Farwa

The national airline of Azerbaijan launched direct flights from Baku to Karachi today. There will be two weekly flights on this route, on Thursdays and Sundays.

The first flight will land in Karachi, and Azerbaijan’s ambassador, Khazar Farhadov, will be there to greet it.

This evening also marks the departure of the inaugural flight from Karachi to Baku, in addition to the arrival of the flight from Baku.

Azerbaijan Airlines said last month that it would be growing its network and flight operations in Pakistan.

Aviation insiders have verified that Azerbaijan Airlines is preparing to launch service to Karachi in the coming month of April.

In addition to its current services in Islamabad and Lahore, the airline plans to launch its Karachi route on April 18, with the inaugural flight anticipated to depart on that date.

Azerbaijan Airlines has been given permission to operate flights on the Karachi route, according to sources within the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Following a bilateral agreement between the two nations, Azerbaijan Airlines has been given permission to extend its operations in Pakistan.