WASHINGTON: US inflation is “too high” and the Federal Reserve will make the issue a priority, Lael Brainard, the nominee to take the number-two position at the central bank, said Wednesday. The Fed’s “most important task” is to focus on “getting inflation back down to two per cent while sustaining a recovery that includes everyone,” Brainard … Read more
BEIJING: China’s digital fiat currency, or the e-CNY, has evolved into an ever-expanding presence in Chinese people’s lives and has shown more charm thanks to growing application scenarios. Since its debut in late 2019, the digital yuan has been accessible in 10 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, with its applications ranging from bill … Read more
KARACHI: The rupee inched up by one paisa against the dollar on Wednesday, owing to ease in the demand for the foreign currency for import payments, dealers said. The interbank foreign exchange market ended at Rs176.74 against the greenback from the previous day’s closing of Rs176.75. The dealers said the dollar demand eased on Wednesday, … Read more
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s food prices rose by a record 22.1 per cent in December, official figures showed on Saturday, as the country struggles to finance urgent imports to tackle an acute shortage of essentials. The census and statistics department said food inflation hit an all-time high last month on a year-on-year basis since the Colombo Consumer … Read more
KARACHI: The rupee made a sharp recovery against the dollar to close the year at Rs176.51 on Friday in the interbank foreign exchange market, dealers said. The exchange rate witnessed an appreciation of Re1 in the local unit against the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs177.51. The rupee cumulatively recovered Rs1.73 against the … Read more
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan have slipped $360 million to $24.273 billion by the week ended December 24, 2021, the central bank reported on Thursday. The foreign exchange reserves of the country stood at $24.633 billion by the week ended December 17, 2021. The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank … Read more
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has introduced a Shariah-compliant standing ceiling facility and open market operations (injections) for the Islamic banking institutions (IBIs), a statement said. As the size of the Islamic banking industry is increasing, the central bank recognises the need to introduce Shariah-compliant liquidity facilities for IBIs. With a view to … Read more
KARACHI: Pakistani rupee recovered 4 paisas against the dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange market on Wednesday. The dollar is being traded at the historic high of Rs178.15 at the opening of the interbank market. The exchange rate ended as the local currency hit a historic low of Rs178.19 on Tuesday December … Read more
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday directed the offices of the Inland Revenue (IR) to facilitate taxpayers in the payment of duty and taxes during the last two days of the year by extending working hours. On an office order, the revenue board directed the tax offices to remain open and observe … Read more
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday said the limits of foreign currency buying by individuals have been set to discourage speculative transactions. The SBP has set a limit of $10,000/day/individual and $100,000/year/individual to check the foreign currency transactions. “It has been observed that substantial amounts of foreign currency was being purchased for speculative … Read more
Targeting 53,000 points by December 2022, Arsalan Soomro at KASB Securities project earnings growth of 12 per cent and a dividend yield of 6 per cent. Moreover, the index has the potential to re-rate once issues relating to the cash-starved energy chain are appeased. After considerable signs of economic overheating, the government and the central … Read more
KARACHI: The rupee ended firmer against the dollar on Friday, amid high dollar demand for import and corporate payments, dealers said. The rupee eased by one paisa to Rs178.13 against the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs178.12 in the interbank foreign exchange market. The dealers said the demand for the foreign currency was … Read more
ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled a new package of measures on Monday to support deposits denominated in Turkish lira, after the currency has lost about 50 per cent of its value against the dollar this year. Speaking at a press conference after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said Turkey would introduce new measures within … Read more
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka raised fuel prices on Tuesday and warned of possible petrol rationing with importers struggling to pay for oil, in a worsening economic crisis that has also sparked food shortages. The move comes just days after international ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country over fears of a sovereign default on its $26 billion foreign … Read more
ISTANBUL: Turkey’s troubled lira nosedived on Monday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan justify not to raise the interest rates to stabilise the currency. Erdogan has pushed the central bank to sharply lower borrowing costs, despite the annual rate of inflation soaring to more than 20 per cent. Economists believe the policy could see consumer price increases … Read more
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday said the limits of foreign currency buying by individuals have been set to discourage speculative transactions. The SBP has set a limit of $10,000/day/individual and $100,000/year/individual to check the foreign currency transactions. “It has been observed that substantial amounts of foreign currency was being purchased for … Read more
KARACHI: The rupee ended firmer at Rs178.04 against the dollar on Monday, amid higher foreign currency demand for import and corporate payments, dealers said. The rupee ended at Rs178.04, which is the same closing of December 17, 2021, in the interbank foreign exchange market. The present exchange rate is the lowest level of the rupee … Read more
PARIS: The French central bank has said that the EU’s second-largest economy remained resilient even faced with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, predicting steady growth over the coming years even if new restrictions are imposed. The coronavirus crisis “has not left scars in terms of production levels and potential production,” Bank of France director general Olivier … Read more
COLOMBO: International ratings agency Fitch downgraded cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Saturday by one notch to ‘CC’ due to mounting fears of a sovereign default on its $26 billion foreign debt. The downgrade came a day after Sri Lanka reported a 1.5 per cent contraction in the third quarter of this year, as a foreign exchange crisis … Read more
KARACHI: The inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan has increased 12.3 per cent to $798 million during the first five months (July-November) of the fiscal year 2021/22, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Friday. The FDI during the same months of the last year stood at $710 million, according to the … Read more
KARACHI: The Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) is completely perplexed by the central bank’s action towards the recent interest rates, a statement said. EFP president Ismail Suttar said that the State Bank’s action to increase the level of already augmented interest rates proves that there is an absolute uncertainty about the correlation between inflation and … Read more
KARACHI: The exchange rate ended unchanged on Thursday, as the dollar maintained the record high level of Rs177.98, which was the previous day’s closing at the interbank foreign exchange market, dealers said. They said the market witnessed high dollar demand for import and corporate payments; however, the banks provided sufficient dollars against the demand to … Read more
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that the inflows of remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis grew 9.7 per cent to $12.9 billion during the first five months (July-November) 2021/22. The SBP said that with $2.4 billion of inflows during November 2021, workers’ remittances continued their strong streak of remaining above $2 billion … Read more
HONG KONG – Asia stocks held steady on Monday, despite a record-smashing lead from Wall Street, ahead of a week of major monetary policy announcements around the world. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was down 0.17 percent at the close, while Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up by 0.71 percent. Friday’s gains … Read more
RIYADH: The Saudi Central Bank has issued the IT governance framework to streamline functions of financial institutions operating in the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The framework will also be applicable to lending institutions, Saudi Payments and credit information companies. It is part of SAMA’s responsibilities to effectively identify and address potential IT risks and threats. … Read more
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will launch a new initiative ‘Asaan Mobile Account’ programme on Monday. In a press release, the central bank said the initiative has been developed under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy aimed at facilitating the customers for remote account opening under branchless banking. Read more: Microfinance Bank posts record … Read more
RABAT: Morocco’s economy has rebounded with GDP in 2021 projected to grow 6.3 per cent on the back of a rapid response to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday. “Thanks to a very successful vaccination campaign and the prompt response of the authorities, the health crisis has been placed under control … Read more
KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have increased $2.652 billion to $25.151 billion by the week ended December 3, 2021, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said. The country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $22.499 billion by the week ended November 26, 2021. The official reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased $2.648 billion … Read more
