Tag: Economy

KARACHI - After a year of unemployment and wondering if his family would be better off if he died, Pakistani textile worker Murad Ali has got the spring back in his step.
One of thousands laid off by textile bosses last year, the father of four is now back at work and one of those to benefit from a surge in Pakistani exports in the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.
Experts say rising global commodity prices, a government decision to prioritise power supply to

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's economy is expected to grow 4 percent in the coming financial year starting July 1, picking up steam again after devastating floods pushed back growth to around 3 percent this year, officials said on Thursday.
"We are looking at a growth rate of 4 percent for the next year because of a good services sector and on hopes of better farm output," said a Finance Ministry official who did not want to be identified.
The figure compares with a 3.7 percent

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's economy is expected to grow 4 percent in the coming financial year starting July 1, picking up steam again after devastating floods pushed back growth to around 3 percent this year, officials said on Thursday.
"We are looking at a growth rate of 4 percent for the next year because of a good services sector and on hopes of better farm output," said a Finance Ministry official who did not want to be identified. The figure compares with a 3.7 percent growth

ISLAMABAD - Despite several domestic and international challenges, the country's economy is gradually moving towards stability, as suggested by economic indicators.
Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves reached an all time high of $17.38 billion, triggered by massive remittances sent by overseas Pakistan, while other economic indicators have also shown positive growth during the period, sources in the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said.
The government has been focusing on the

WAZIRABAD - PPP central information secretary and ex-federal minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on Sunday said the government had taken concrete steps and difficult as well as unpopular decisions for the betterment of the country, its economy and democracy.
Addressing a seminar, chaired by Editor Pakistan Today Arif Nizami, under the aegis of Hameed Nizami Memorial Society, Wazirabad chapter, he said the PPP-led coalition government had restored the constitution to its true spirit,

LAHORE - One way to ensure Pakistan's families are better off and fewer people are living in poverty is by meeting the reproductive health needs. Women are the primary caretakers of their children and families, but also make an important contribution to the household as well as the national economy, making up one third of the labour force.
Gross national income (GNI) per person increased considerably from 380 USD to 2300 USD per person in 2005, for example. However while the

TOKYO - Seeking cooperation of investors to explore enormous possibilities of strengthening and expanding business relations with Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday invited the Japanese business community to rejuvenate Pakistan's economy through their individual contribution, joint venture or consortia.
Commenting on investment-friendly environment established by the present government, the president said, "The government has designated a 2000-acre Special Economic

KARACHI - President Asif Ali Zardari is holding a crucial meeting with the members of Pakistan Business Council (PBC) on Feb 17 in Islamabad to discuss economic revival agenda, floated recently by the council. Sources told Pakistan Today on Monday that during the meeting the president, economic team of the government and the PBC's representatives, who belong to the leading corporate sector entities in the country, would discuss the issues raised by the council to revive the ailing

TOKYO - Japan's economy shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2010 but analysts expect a recovery this year as stronger exports to China and other parts of fast-growing Asia offset persistently weak domestic demand. The latest GDP figures confirmed analysts' estimates that China pulled ahead of Japan in 2010 as the world's second-biggest economy behind the US on a seasonally unadjusted, nominal dollar basis, at $5.8786 trillion against $5.4742 trillion.
The data confirmed Japan

LAHORE - The government should devote attention to real economic issues and come up with a comprehensive solution to the challenges that the business community is presently facing. These views were expressed by former LCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar while speaking at the Annual General Meeting of Lahore Township Industries Association.
MNA Naseer Bhutta, former LCCI presidents Mian Shafqat Ali, Mohammad Ali Mian and newly elected Lahore Township Industries Association Chairman

KARACHI - Expressing concern at the grave condition of the national economy, Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has asked the government to implement urgent steps to steer the derailed economy back on track. The PBC members said that the council is ready to fulfill its role as a catalyst to support the government in crafting a precise agenda to put economy on path towards stability and growth.
Former Commerce Minister Abdul Razzak Dawood, MCB Chief and PBC Chairman Mian Muhammad

LAHORE - Government deficits, lack of both economic vision and political will are major challenges the country is facing on the economic front. Regulators have failed to make a tangible difference as the government has completely overlooked their prescribed role.
These observations were made by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) former Chairman Khalid Mirza, while addressing the members of Lahore Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) here on Wednesday. He was

CAIRO - Egypt's popular revolt has opened up new political perspectives for the biggest country in the Middle East but dealt the economy a serious blow, scaring off tourists and foreign investors. "The crisis is costing the economy at least 310 million dollars daily," since it began on January 25, said a report from Credit Agricole, lowering a growth forecast for 2011 from 5.3 percent to 3.7 percent.
Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation with 80 million people, was already

KARACHI - Forecasting Pakistan's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at two to three percent, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that the country's external accounts would deteriorate during second half of the current fiscal year. In its first Quarterly Report for 2010-11, the central bank has projected that persistent energy shortages and growing arrears of energy payments would continue to dampen economic activity in the country.
The Report on the state of

ISLAMABAD - The two rounds of negotiations between the government and PML-N committees have so far not touched real issues plaguing the economy, as both sides have been working on cosmetic exercises, while issues such as subsidies, borrowing from the central bank and the much-needed mobilisation of additional revenue resources remain untouched.
A source in the Finance Ministry told Pakistan Today that most of the issues confronting the national economy lingered on since 1990s,

LAHORE - The Concerned Citizens Society of Pakistan (CCP), a non-governmental organisation, has condemned the inauguration for luxury apartments construction for National Assembly members by prime minister here the other day. In a statement issued on Friday, the CCP criticised the PM Gilani for his reported statement that the government was facing the 'economic threat' and not the 'political' one, while he was inaugurating the work on Rs.3billion luxury apartments.
"The CCP

BEIJING - China formally announced that its economy grew 10.3 percent in 2010, marking the fastest annual pace since the onset of the global crisis, but concerns about persistent inflation sent Asian markets tumbling.
The data has fuelled expectations for a stronger currency - a change that Washington has pressed for during President Hu Jintao's high-profile US visit this week - as China pulls on a variety of levers to rein in consumer prices.
Gross domestic product rose 9.8