Category: Business

The most important business news, explained in a young, easy to understand way. News that affects young career professionals.

  • PKR continues losing streak against US dollar, sheds Rs1.48

    PKR continues losing streak against US dollar, sheds Rs1.48

    The Pakistani currency plummeted further against the US Dollar (USD) on April 20, with losses reported on the interbank exchange. At the completion of today’s session, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) lost Rs1.48 versus the US dollar.

    It declined by 0.80 per cent versus the greenback, closing at Rs185.92, after shedding Rs1.90 in the interbank market on Tuesday, April 19th, and concluding at Rs184.44. During today’s open market session, the Indian rupee (INR) fell to an intraday low of Rs185.95 over the US dollar.

    The local currency weakened against the dollar as businesses remained under pressure amid the ongoing dialogue between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Pakistani government is likely to undertake certain difficult and problematic steps in order to revive the local economy.

    Read more: PKR declines against US Dollar after winning for a week

    Oil prices rallied following steep losses the previous day as concerns about tighter supply from Russia and Libya arose, although industry data showed a decline in US crude inventories in the previous week.

  • Thal Express set to hit track back after 2 years on April 21

    Thal Express set to hit track back after 2 years on April 21

    Railways Minister Saad Rafique on Wednesday announced restoration of Thal Express between Multan and Rawalpindi after remaining suspended for over two years.

    According to ARY News, “It has been decided to restore the Thal Express (129-Up/130-Dn) running between Multan – Rawalpindi – Multan via Attock with effect from 21-04-2023,” the minister announced in a tweet.

    The Thal Express would run between Rawalpindi and Multan via Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Bhakkar, Kundian, Attock and Golra Sharif.

    Back in 2019, former prime minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Thal Express. Pakistan Railway had suspended the train service in 2008 due to financial losses and the shortage of locomotives.

  • 3Qs of FY-2022: Food exports up by 18.92% to $3.961 bln: PBS

    3Qs of FY-2022: Food exports up by 18.92% to $3.961 bln: PBS

    The national food exports recorded a huge increase of 18.92 per cent during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, informed Pakistan Bureau of Statics (PBS).

    The PBS data showed the number increased to $3,961.469 million during July-March (2021-22) from $3,331.257 million in July-March (2020-21).

    Rice exports, with an increase of 14.96 percent, increased from $1,560.429 million to $1,793.909 million.

    The Basmati rice increased from $408.117 million to $496.389 million, which is a 21.63 percent increase. Moreover, an increase in other rice products were recorded from $1,152.312 million to $1,297.519 million, which is a 12.60 sharing growth increase.

    The fish and its related items exports increased from $303.782 million to $309.979 million which is 2.04 percent increase. About fruit exports, the PBS data revealed that the numbers increased from $378.575 million to $294.538 million, which is a 4.22 percent increase.

    The exports of vegetables increased by 1.09 percent, from $245.739 million to $248.413 million; leguminous vegetables (pulses) by 100 percent, from zero exports to $0.068 million; tobacco by 59.35 percent, from $24.736 million to $39.418 million; spices by 18.05 percent, from $70.524 million to $83.251 million; oil seeds, nuts and kernals by 131.41 percent, from $76.348 million to $176.678 million; meat and meat preparations by 1.18 percent, from $247.010 million to $249.934 million whereas the exports of all other food items increased by 56.86 percent, from $424.114 million to $665.282 million.

    Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the exports of food commodities went up by 10.22 percent during March 2022 as compared to the same month last year. They were recorded at $526.466 million against the exports of $477.668 million.

  • 90’s favourite Nokia is gearing up for a comeback with new devices

    90’s favourite Nokia is gearing up for a comeback with new devices

    Nokia was confronted with a major challenge following the judicial decision in the lawsuit brought against HMD Global. To refresh your memory, a business called VoiceAgeEVS LLC sued the Finish giant in German courts for illegally deploying VoLTE technologies in Nokia handsets.

    Nokia Mobile in response, filed a complaint, which was dismissed, resulting in the withdrawal of smartphones from some European countries. HMD takes intellectual property rights carefully, according to Nokia Mobile, and is ready to provide and acquire licenses on conditions that are fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory.

    Pursuant to VoiceAgeEVS LLC’s discontent with HMD’s legal exercises, a partial ban on Nokia smartphones was imposed. Nokia has already taken measures to ensure that enhanced voice service (EVS) is no longer integrated into its devices sold in Germany, allowing for uninterrupted distribution. In Germany, Austria, and other European nations, phones like the Nokia XR20 and X20 are now eligible for sale in online stores.

    Read more: PTA records 1.73 million new 3G, 4G users in one month

    Nokia C21 is the latest addition to the C-series family, as announced by HMD Global, the house of Nokia devices.

    The new Nokia C21 adds even more value to the popular C-series by preserving the exceptional build quality, hallmark security assurances, and all-day battery life. It costs Rs17,000 and offers improved photos, privacy, and speed for a more enjoyable experience.

  • PTA records 1.73 million new 3G, 4G users in one month

    PTA records 1.73 million new 3G, 4G users in one month

    The latest stats from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) show that the number of 3G and 4G customers in Pakistan increased by 1.73 million to 113.11 million by the end of March 2022, up from 111.38 million at the end of February 2022.

    By the end of March 2022, the number of mobile users in Pakistan had risen by 1.79 million to 193.42 million, up from 191.63 million at the end of February 2022. The cellular population climbed from 87.17 per cent in February 2022 to 87.95 per cent in March 2022.

    The entire teledensity had risen to 89.09 per cent, up from 88.31 per cent in February.

    The overall number of Jazz 3G users was 6.489 million at the end of March, down from 6.607 million at the end of February 2022, a fall of 0.118 million. By the end of March, the number of Jazz 4G users had risen from 35.822 million to 36.518 million.

    The number of Zong 3G customers fell from 3.501 million in February to 3.447 million in March, while the amount of 4G users increased from 27.483 million in February to 28.033 million in March.

    Telenor’s 3G users totaled 3.911 million at the end of March, which was the same as at the end of February. The graph, however, shows a downward trend. Its 4G subscribers increased from 20.801 million at the end of February to 21 million by the end of March 2022.

    Read more: Textile exports soared 25pc to $14.3b: PBS

    By the end of March, there were 3.809 million Ufone 3G users, up from 3.873 million at the end of February. Ufone’s 4G user base expanded from 8.099 million in February to 8.6 million by the end of March 2022, a 0.501 million growth in the time period under consideration.

  • PKR declines against US Dollar after winning for a week

    PKR declines against US Dollar after winning for a week

    The winning days for Pakistani currency are over. On April 18, the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) overturned gains against the US Dollar (USD) and registered losses in the interbank market.

    At the completion of the session, the local currency had lost 99 paisas against the US dollar. It declined by 0.54 per cent versus the US dollar, closing at Rs182.54.

    The rupee declined by 0.54 per cent versus the US dollar, closing at Rs182.54 after winning three paisas and settling at Rs181.55 on Saturday, April 16. During the open market session, the Indian rupee (INR) touched an intraday high of Rs181.00 versus the US dollar.

    After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to resume talks with Pakistan under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, the rupee’s seven-day winning streak versus the dollar ended today.

    Considering global variables influencing the local currency, crude prices declined as concerns about slowing demand in China outweighed support despite a constrained global supply situation and the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    Read more: Global oil prices climb to highest in three weeks

    It is worth noting that the local currency has depreciated by 15.85 per cent (Rs24.98) since the beginning of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2021.

  • Social media influencers share first glimpse of Twitter’s edit button

    Social media influencers share first glimpse of Twitter’s edit button

    Social Media influencers have shared the first glimpses of the social microblogging site, Twitter’s edit button which is under testing progress. Earlier this month, Twitter announced that they are working on the edit button’s feature.

    Social media influencer, Alessandro Paluzzi shared a screenshot of Twitter’s edit button which is in progress.

    Another social media influencer, Matt Navara shared a video of the edit button feature.

    Twitter announced on April 1 that they are working on the edit button but many users thought that its a prank. However, on April 6, Twitter confirmed that they are currently testing a new feature of the edit button for Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/TwitterComms/status/1511456430024364037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1511456430024364037%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.samaaenglish.tv%2Fnews%2F2022%2F04%2Ffirst-glimpses-of-twitters-edit-button%2F

    Twitter’s Vice President of a consumer product, Jay Sullivan said that editing has been “the most requested Twitter feature for many years”

  • Pakistani govt seeks help for balance of payments: IMF

    Pakistani govt seeks help for balance of payments: IMF

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that the new government in Pakistan has reached out to it, seeking support for the country’s balance of payments. It said a delegation of the country would be in Washington this week for a follow-up meeting.

    “The IMF looks forward to continuing supporting Pakistan’s authorities on economic policies and reforms to ensure macroeconomic stability in the country amidst the current challenging global economic environment,” IMF’s Resident Representative in Islamabad Esther Perez Ruiz told Dawn News.

    She also confirmed that as part of the IMF’s “continued engagement with Pakistan” she last Friday met with finance minister-designate Miftah Ismail, ahead of the visit of Pakistan’s delegation to Washington during Spring Meetings.

    Top government sources confirmed that a delegation also comprising Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Shaikh and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir would be meeting the new IMF mission chief to Pakistan Nathan Porter on Monday evening, besides other fund officials.

    Pakistani delegation likely to meet fund officials this week

    Efforts were on to ensure that Mr Ismail also joins the Washington meetings physically and hopefully take this opportunity to call on IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and seek her support for the revival and completion of the stalled fund programme. These sources said former finance minister Shaukat Tarin had sought to arrange a meeting with Ms Georgieva during these meetings as negotiations with the fund staff had stalled following Feb 28 fuel subsidies and tax amnesty announced by former prime minister Imran Khan.

    The new finance minister would be more eager to seek blessings of the IMF’s top management at the outset for smooth engagements with the staff to put the programme back on track and ensure foreign inflows for the direly needed balance of payment support. There are, however, at least three issues that the authorities are trying to resolve as the spring meetings (April 18-24) are opening today.

  • Global oil prices climb to highest in three weeks

    Oil prices increased on Monday as fears of limited global supply intensified, with the developing crisis in Ukraine raising the risk of more penalties from the West against Russia, the world’s leading exporter.

    Brent futures were up $1.50, or 1.3 per cent, at $113.20 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 98 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $107.93 per barrel. Both contracts surged more than 2.5 per cent on April 14, ahead of the Easter weekend holidays, on news that the European Union would phase in a ban on Russian oil imports.

    Last week, EU governments said that the bloc’s executive was working on ideas to ban Russian oil, but officials said Germany was not actively backing an immediate ban.

    Those remarks came before the Ukraine situation escalated over the weekend, with the Ukrainian military defying a Russian demand to lay down arms in the pulverised port of Mariupol on Sunday. Moscow, which refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a “special operation,” said its soldiers had nearly entirely captured the city, with no sign of a truce in sight.

    Read more: Oil prices jump following Russia’s biggest production decline

    Due to sanctions or importers voluntarily rejecting Russian shipments, the International Energy Agency has warned that around 3 million barrels per day (BPD) of Russian oil might be shut in from May onwards.

  • Textile exports soared 25pc to $14.3b: PBS

    The exports of Pakistan textile commodities soared a 25.43 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) report.

    As per PBS data, the textile exports were recorded at $14,242.623 million in July-March (2021-22) against the exports of $11,355.465 million in July-March (2020-21), showing growth of 25.43pc.

    The textile commodities that contributed in trade growth included cotton yarn, the exports of which increased by 25.97 per cent from $721.216 million last year to $908.487 million during the current year.

    Likewise, the exports of raw cotton increased by 1009.03 per cent, cotton cloth by 26.51 percent, from $1,419.181 million to $1,795.457 million, cotton (carded or combed) by 100 percent to $1.632 million from $0.064 million exports last year, yarn (other than cotton yarn) increased by 104.53 percent, from $23.560 million to $48.188 million whereas exports of knitwear increased by 34.12 percent, from $2,780.896 million to $3,729.683 million.

    Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the textile exports increased by 19.90 percent during the month of March 2022 as compared to the same month of last year. The exports during March 2022 were recorded at $1,625.253 million against the exports of $1,355.542 million during March 2021.

    On month-on-month basis, the exports of textile from the country however witnessed a decrease of 3.51 percent during March 2022 when compared to the exports of $1,684.313 million in February 2022.

    As per report, the country’s total merchandise exports increased by 24.98 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The merchandise exports during July-March (2021-22) were recorded at $23.355 billion compared to the exports of $18.687billion during July-March (2020-21).