Tag: Economic

ISLAMABAD - The US must fulfil its pledges made to Pakistan as the country is passing through a difficult phase and needs to be pulled out of its economic crunch, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday. The president met US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter,
who called on him at the Presidency and discussed bilateral relations and issues related to strategic dialogue besides the war on terror and Zardari's visit to the US. According to sources, the president apprised

TOKYO - Japan upgraded its view of the economy for the first time in seven months on Friday, citing "some movements towards a pick-up" but warned that the risk of slowing growth is still a major challenge.
"Although the economy appears to be pausing, some movement towards a pick-up can be seen" the Cabinet Office said in its January report, upgrading its view of industrial production, which rose for the first time in six months in November.
"However, the economy remains in

ISLAMABAD - Perhaps for the first time ever, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani hinted at the seriousness of the country's economic meltdown, saying the government was seeking guidance from all political parties to evolve a strategy to tackle the economic challenges the country was facing.
Talking to reporters after inaugurating the groundbreaking ceremony of the Parliament Lodges' phase-II, the prime minister urged the media and the masses not to doubt the commitment of the

ISLAMABAD - Painting a bleak picture of the economy, the government finally started sharing plans to improve how it functions with the parliamentary political parties to persuade them to support implementation of the crucial revenue and power sector reforms.
Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar, Law Minister Babar Awan, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadeemul Haq and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar as well as

LAHORE - The present economic crisis in the country could be overcome by enhancing power supplies, increasing tax collection, improving governance, reducing internal and external debts and constructing the Kalabagh Dam through mutual consensus, participants of a discussion on the country's economic crisis at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal said on Tuesday. Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami, former finance ministers Dr Salman Shah and Sartaj Aziz, former industries minister Jahangir Tareen, former

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday asked the five-member committee formed for dialogue with all the parliamentary parties to immediately contact the leadership of the parties to ascertain their availability for consultation on national economic challenges.
"Since the budget was passed unanimously by the parliament, the financial challenges of the country also need to be shared to find solution through collective wisdom.
The people of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - The reluctance of the political leadership to heed to the advice of its top economic managers has brought them to a point of quitting the government and saving their reputation and credibility internationally, sources told Pakistan Today on Friday.
Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeemul Haq and State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shahid Hafeez Kardar might opt out if the government did not immediately start implementing

ISLAMABAD - Despite resistance from his economic managers and cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday decided to revert the recently-announced increase in petrol prices, calling it a political decision.
A source who attended the prime minister's meeting with parliamentary party heads told Pakistan Today that Federal Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in his one-hour long briefing to participants defended the hike in POL prices, saying it was almost

ISLAMABAD - With the large-scale manufacturing and agriculture sector both recording a negative growth rate during the first quarter of the current financial year, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance was cautioned on Tuesday that the continued delay in implementation of key economic reforms could further strain the economy.
The Senate body on finance met under the chairmanship of Senator Ahmed Ali. Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar, State Bank of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - The lobby of the rich within and outside the parliament is providing stern resistance on the imposition of reformed General Sales Tax (GST) in an attempt to evade taxes at the cost of the poor, independent analysts said.
They believed that the government should keep a vigilant eye on such elements and take steps for the passage of the reformed GST Bill from the parliament. This, they believed, was necessary for the economic sovereignty of Pakistan. Reformed General

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will pay an official two-day visit to Oman to seek greater investment and to enhance trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
Prime Minister Gilani, during his visit beginning tomorrow, will have an audience with Sultan Qaboos bin Al-Said and will hold talks with the Omani leadership. Talks will primarily be focussed at trade and investment. Situation in the region, Middle East with particular focus on Iraq,

ISLAMABAD: The government's new economic team faces an uphill task to revive the economy, reform the tax system and save the International Monetary Fund (IMF) standby arrangement that has been jeopardised by the non-implementation of the IMF conditions, particularly the imposition of the reformed general sales tax.
"It's a big challenge," Dr Waqar Masud Khan said while talking to Pakistan Today on Tuesday. He said he had started reviewing the situation and would soon be able to

KARACHI - Balochistan Economic Forum President Sardar Shoukat AK Popalzai in an exclusive interview to Pakistan Today highlighted the initiatives and achievements of his young but assertive organisation.
The Balochistan Economic Forum (BEF) is expected to garner an investment of $130.5 million in Balochistan from Australia, Holland, China, and Poland in the fields of agriculture, fruit farming, and coal processing in the course of next year. He added that the forum's

LAHORE: The economy will stage a recovery in the fiscal year 2011, but inflation, in double digits, will continue to imperil growth. The current account deficit is likely to decrease in the coming year. The economy will be able to sustain growth without assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but will need foreign financial assistance by 2012.
This was the economic outlook presented in the global annual report of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) released in more than

HONG KONG: The Korean crisis and global economic woes jolted Asian stock markets on Wednesday although Hong Kong and Shanghai revived somewhat after sharp losses in the previous session.
Tokyo's Nikkei index was down 0.75 percent by lunch following sharp losses early in the day, while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.26 percent in the afternoon.
Seoul's Kospi index was off by 0.64 percent after initially falling 2.33 percent in its first reaction to Tuesday's outbreak

ISLAMABAD: The US has warned Pakistan that its failure to go for the much-needed stringent economic reforms, including the expansion of tax base, will result in loosing Washington's backing for Islamabad's efforts to seek financial assistance from international financial institutions (IFIs) and the developed countries.
The current economic crisis confronting Pakistan, US main ally in counter-terrorism efforts, has deeply perturbed the Obama administration and especially

ISLAMABAD: Negating the impression that the Sindh government was against the reformed general sales tax (RGST), Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira said tough economic decisions causing price-hike in the country were being made in national interest.
"We are not fools. We are cognisant of the fact that our certain economic decisions will cause price-hike and may make us unpopular among the masses. But we are making such decisions in national interest, as the country cannot