Finance & Market

  During early 1990s in Pakistan, power and transport industry were the key consumers of petroleum/oil having share of 25 percent and 50 percent, respectively in its total consumption. The crude oil prices have shown a record rise in the last few years rendering the oil importing and developing countries to face the serious fall out and economic setbacks. Experts have revealed that the consumption of petroleum/oil has explained an …

  Dr. Ishrat Husain announced the establishment of the Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance at IBA, with the objective of bridging the gap between trained human resource and industry’s growing requirement. The Centre will broadly perform in the areas such as offering degree programs in Islamic Finance, Conduct Research and case studies for enhancing and disseminating knowledge in Islamic Finance; offer short term open and customized executive courses for …

  Following its ninth review of the program, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked Pakistan to focus on accelerating steps to widen the tax net and raise funds for more infrastructure investment and social assistance after the country failed to reach its fiscal deficit and tax revenue targets under an IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF). However, the IMF welcomed the government’s plans to take action to attain the budget deficit …

  Established following World War II to help with post-war recovery, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) serves as a lender to modern governments and an overseer of international financial markets. Both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created in 1944 at a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and are now based in Washington, DC. The IMF was originally designed to promote international economic cooperation and provide …

  Pakistan is presently going through process of rapid economic development, which includes privatization of major government corporations, aimed at attracting foreign investment and lessening budget deficit. In 2014, foreign currency reserves crossed $15 billion mark, which has led to steady lookout on the long-term rating. External debt in Pakistan remained unchanged at $64,338 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. External debt in Pakistan averaged $49,246.37 million from 2002 …

  ‘Business and commercial activities need to be coherent with the Shariah Corridor and Islamic financial laws’ Despite tremendous growth of the Islamic banking industry it is yet to go a long way to achieve the much desired objectives of socio-economic justice by raising awareness and taking benefits of interest free financial system, free from exploitation. Though more and more people are preferring Islamic banking but financial institutions offering these …

  Islamic banking industry in Pakistan has been growing at a fast pace ever since its re-launch in 2002 and now represents over 12-percent of overall banking industry with as many as 19 Islamic banking institutions offering Islamic banking products and services through a network of over 1,400 branches across the country. Almost all the conventional banks are also introducing Shariah-based banking upon which the central bank is reviewing their …

  Every Pakistani owes over Rs 101,338 in debt Govt should raise capacity to monitor and manage public debt The debt market is a market for trading the debt instruments like TFCs, Bonds, T-Bills, Commercial Papers, Participation Term Certificate, Corporate and Federal Bonds etc. A debt market establishes a structured environment where these types of debt can be traded with comfort between interested parties. The debt market is also known …

  While investors have been increasingly fishing for Shariah-compliant investment options, conventional banks and asset management companies, in order to cater to the growing demand for Islamic products, were seen jumping into bandwagon. Ijarah Sukuks are Shariah-compliant medium term investment instruments with 6-monthly (floating) profit payments guaranteed by the Government of Pakistan (GoP). SBP announces profits for Sukuk every 6 months. Facilities of further investment and premature encashment through reselling …

  Pakistan received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $119.3 million in the first two months of current fiscal year 2015-16, which is 7.5 percent higher than the FDI received in the same period a year ago. The FDI increased to $8.3 million year-on-year (YoY) in July-August, as it amounted to almost $111 million in the corresponding months of last fiscal year 2014-15, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). …