Every year billion of dollar or payment sent by overseas to their home countries. Over the last twenty years these remittances are being utilized for developmental activities and to sustain Pakistan economy. Remittance plays integral part in easing the current account deficit, providing balance of payment increase of export, labor force and market situation as well. Therefore remittances are referred as engine of economic growth. In the month of July …

Webinar on ‘Halal Industry in Pakistan: Potential and Challenges’ organised very recently by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), has rightly pointed out that the volume of global Halal food trade is more than $3 trillion though Pakistan’s share is barely 0.25 percent and there is a need to increase. As such there is a need to increase Pakistan’s Halal food production and exports of semi-cooked …

Speaking at the recent launch of a new financing programme titled “Women Ventures” (WV) by Karandaaz Pakistan, in collaboration with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), aimed at improving access to finance for women-led businesses, former State Bank Governor Shamshad Akhtar, also Karandaaz Chairperson, said; “only 8 percent of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) owners were women their access to finance is 6 percent and only 1 percent …

With the world battling the novel coronavirus pandemic, the impact has been felt on every sector and everyday life. Perhaps one of the biggest effects of this pandemic has been on the financial services industry and the insurance industry. In many cases, insurers have already started taking the necessary action for protecting their businesses, which have left many consumers in the lurch in this challenging time. On the other hand, …

The year 2019 has been good for the Takaful in Pakistan. This is evident from the performance of the Takaful Industry. The annual gross contribution of the Takaful Industry has risen to Rs.10.98 billion in 2019 registering an increase of 27%, over the previous year (2018: Rs. 8.65 billion). The encouraging growth in contribution speaks itself that the Takaful is gaining strengthen in Pakistan where interest based insurance and banking …

The Government of Pakistan has recently tabled an Amendment Bill to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Act (Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act 1997) to recover the stock of circular debt in the power sector from current consumers of electricity in the country. This has sparked a debate on the burden that will fall on consumers through the electricity tariff spike that will follow. …

The Gravitational forces of global geopolitics and geo-economics is moving back towards East from the West and as this rebalancing unfolds, the 21st century will be the Asian Century. BRI is the key that not only integrates Asia but ensures stable and sustainable future of this continent. Asia is always a continent with socio-economic and cultural divides and to overcome these divisions into inclusive Asia integration on all fronts is …

Monthly sales of automotive industry for July 2002 were reported at 11,836 units, up 32%MoM, but down 10%YoY. This indicate a reversion to pre-COVID normalcy, completing a “V-shaped” recovery over five months while extending consecutive YoY downtrend to its 21st month (back to levels seen during 2009). Consequently, 7MCY20 total industry offtake was reported at 57,509 units, down 57%YoY), where major constituents moved down for Passenger Cars/LCVs. Recent comparisons reveal …

There are new buzzwords in the marketplace, such as Solar power, Inverter systems, Lithium batteries. We here in Pakistan have a habit of giving opinion on technical, commercial, financial, legal, micro-financing etc. in abundance without knowledge or experience. We opine on each and every matter, like we do in case of religion, politics, energy mix, how to run factories, hospitals, hotels and son on. I worked in 4 other countries, …

The Punjab government deserves some commendation for initiating a digital solution to strengthen its wheat monitoring and regulation mechanism, and to prevent hoarding and price hike. According to a report published in local English daily, the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has developed software to help the province’s food authorities to track and regulate wheat and flour delivery in the open market. Though, a good initiative, this will not benefit …