Tue, 21-Oct-2025

Iceland raises key interest rate as prices rise

iceland

REYKJAVIK: The central bank of Iceland hiked its main interest rate substantially on Wednesday in an attempt to contain inflation as the Ukraine war affected the economic outlook. Interest rates are being raised by central banks throughout the world in an effort to control consumer costs, which began to climb as economies recovered from the Covid … Read more

German industrial output up but conflict darkens outlook

german industrial

FRANKFURT: German industrial production rose again in January, official figures showed on Tuesday, but the positive picture was likely to be upended by the impact of the war in Ukraine. Production was up 2.7 per cent on the previous month, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the federal statistics agency Destatis, after rising 1.1 per … Read more

China’s exports up 16.3% as trade with Russia surged

china exports

BEIJING: Chinese exports in January and February rose a combined 16.3 per cent on surging global demand and a spike in trade with Russia in the run-up to the war in Ukraine, according to the customs data released on Monday. The growth rate exceeded economists’ expectations of a 15.7 per cent gain from a year … Read more

Supply chain costs a risk to profits

supply chain

KARACHI: Earnings of the KSE-100 Index increased significantly, displaying a jump in quarterly profit of 19.9 per cent. However, almost all listed companies involved in manufacturing, assembling and production activities have complained of the supply chain challenges, which would take a toll on the demand and profitability. According to industry sources, the freight for spot … Read more

Beijing targets GDP growth of over 5% in 2022

Beijing

BEIJING: The Chinese capital Beijing is striving to notch a year-on-year GDP growth of over 5 per cent this year, local authorities said on Thursday. The city also aims at maintaining its consumer price index (CPI) increase within 3 per cent, compared with the previous year. The targets were unveiled in the government work report … Read more

Finance ministry rejects World Bank’s projection for Pakistan’s GDP growth

World Bank $19.8 million aid to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The government has rejected the World Bank’s projection about Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for the current and upcoming fiscal year, saying it was based on unrealistic assessment and that the GDP growth rate for the fiscal year 2021/22 would go up close to 5 per cent against the World Bank’s forecast … Read more

Shaukat Tarin: Pakistani currency will be used for trade with Afghanistan

Shaukat Tarin

Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin said that Pakistani currency will be used for two-sided trade with Afghanistan, as an alternative to the US dollar.

The minister exposed it in a meeting of Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance, adding that the bordering counter, where the Taliban has just publicized their temporary government structure, is facing a lack of dollars as international financial institutions have detained its assets.

Shaukat Tarin more stated that Pakistan might refer human resources to Afghanistan to operate many affairs as the Taliban has derived into power again later a break of two decades.

The finance minister also called food prices the main concern of Pakistan and said that the present account shortage has been viewing a rush since April.

The finance minister said to the senators that Pakistan established $450 million from the Asian Development for procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

He also promised to take the country’s GDP growth to 4.8% during the present fiscal year 2021-22.

Indian hackers targeted the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) database a few days ago, according to the finance minister, who also stated that the revenue authority’s system is being updated.

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