The prevalence of Glaucoma in children is increasing rapidly in Pakistan, requiring proper intervention, Al-Shifa Trust eye hospital said Friday. Glaucoma in children is a vision-threatening condition highly prevalent in our population. It said this might be due to the high incidence of consanguinity or family marriages in Pakistan.… Continue

Mrs. Fariha Spogmai and Sheikh Abdullah Mandokhail Representative and Patron Pakistan canoe & Kayak Federation visited Balochistan’s first and only International Canoeing and Rowing Olympic Sports Academy & Center “Hayat Durrani Water Sports Academy (HDWSA) at Hanna Lake Quetta. The founder and Chief Executive of (HDWSA) and Secretary Pakistan canoe & Kayak Federation Hayatullah Khan Durrani “Pride-of-Performance” & first Pakistani Recipient of British Caving Legend Award along with honourary players of Pakistan Customs canoeing team warm welcomed the Honourable guests from Islamabad on their arrival at the Hqrs of Customs Sponsored academy HDWSA.… Continue

Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited hosted a corporate briefing for CY22, today. Following are the key takeaways:

During the year, HMB showed tremendous growth with PBT up by 28%YoY, Advances up by 9%YoY, and Current deposits up by 14%YoY. The bank posted a highest-ever PAT of PKR14.3bn (EPS PKR13.61) against PKR13.5bn (EPS PKR12.84), showing a surge of 5.92%YoY coupled with a significant rise in interest earned by 81.4%YoY to clock in at PKR133bn in CY22 as compared to PKR73.3bn.… Continue

Mr. Shabbir Mansha, Vice President FPCCI, has apprised the business, industry and trade community of Pakistan that, with effect from 14th August 2023, all prior SROs pertaining to export facilitation will be replaced by one comprehensive Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) 2021 – which came under effect under SRO.… Continue

Nearly 150 beginner, intermediate, established, and aspiring content creators gathered at the Centre for Excellence in Journalism’s (CEJ-IBA) ‘Click! The Digital News Ideathon’ to learn how to monetise their content and diversify their revenue streams to sustain their platforms.

The event was organized by the CEJ-IBA in collaboration with Deutsche Welle Akademie (DW).… Continue

·     To cap off the business week, the PSX recorded a negative session. The market opened in the negative zone but continued to trade both ways during the opening session, as the anticipated SLA agreement between the government and the IMF was prolonged.… Continue

Pakistan Business Council (FPBC) organised the 10th edition of its legacy Finland Pakistan Business Summit 2023. This year, the summit primarily focused on expanding cooperation in the energy and education sectors to boost bilateral trade, investment, and exchange of technical expertise for shared growth and development.… Continue

On Saturday, former Vice President of FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh said that the taxation on the poor should be stopped, and the deficit should be met by taxing the rich. Poor do not have enough money to pay further taxes. At the same time, the rich can easily afford additional taxes but are not being ordered, which is sad, he said and added that the economy is in ruins and the life of the common man has become miserable.… Continue

President of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Faraz-ur-Rehman said that the government has exempted a large sector of the economy from tax, while big landlords are being given more concessions which are doubtful. He said that despite giving privileges to the powerful landlords, there is a shortage of commodities in the country, and vegetables and fruits are far from the reach of the common man.… Continue

Zonergy Corporation showcases its smart Energy Solutions in Indonesia’s most renowned International Solar Energy Exhibition (Solartech Indonesia 2023)held at Jakarta Convention and Exhibition Center, Indonesia. Zonergy Corporation made its debut at the exhibition, and Jun Guo, executive director and president of the company, led the delegation as the team leader.… Continue

·    Today, the Bulls prevailed at the PSX. The session began in the negative zone, but bulls quickly turned the tide, with the index reaching an intraday high of 688.23 points. Investors rejoiced in the aftermath of optimism for the resumption of the stalled IMF program following the interest rate hike, which provided much needed clarity in the market, as well as the Finance Minister’s statement that the staff level agreement was anticipated in the coming week.… Continue

Dr Shahid Javed Burki, World renowned political economist and former finance minister, has emphasised enhancing the ratio of domestic savings, tax collection and investments in the SME sector for sustainable future development of Pakistan. He stated it at a seminar jointly organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and the Burk Institute of Public Policy (BIPP) today at SMEDA Head Office on “SME Sector Opportunities and Challenges in Pakistan.… Continue

·         Headline inflation for the month of Feb’23 clocked in at 31.5%YoY, taking the 8MFY23 average inflation to 26.2%. On a MoM basis, the inflation was recorded at 4.3%MoM—the highest monthly reading since Jul’22.

·         The Food Index, which has a 34.6% weight in National CPI, spearheaded the inflation reading for the month, increasing by 44.6%YoY/4.1%MoM.… Continue

In the current situation in Pakistan, there is a need to pay attention to the development of agriculture and its prosperity. European countries must firmly establish their footing, for which new technology is used in the agricultural sector. These views were expressed by the president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, former president of FPCCI, former chairman of UBG and international Business leader Iftikhar Ali Malik in a conversation with a delegation of traders.… Continue

· The PSX witnessed a positive session today. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in green and kept hovering in a positive zone throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of 293.07 points, as investors adopted the strategy of value hunting on dips in anticipation of positive outcomes from the ongoing negotiations between the government’s finance team and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission.… Continue

Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) is scheduled to release its 2QFY23 earnings on Wednesday, wherein we expect the company to post NPAT of PkR37.30bn (EPS PkR8.66), changing by -30%/+6% on a QoQ/YoY basis. The said decline in bottom line on a quarterly basis is majorly attributable to slightly lower oil and gas production from Nashapa (↓7%QoQ) due to maintenance job at SNGPL pipeline in Peshawar.… Continue

Strengthening upon the reverberating journey of the globally recognized, S&P Global Award Winner K-Electric’s Roshni Baji brand ambassador program, the company has announced the launch of the third cohort of this initiative, comprising of 50 women belonging to a diverse range of backgrounds from various parts of the city.… Continue

· The PSX concluded the week with a mixed session. The benchmark KSE-100 Index traded in a narrow range in both session as investor involvement remain sluggish as they remained cautions while waiting from IMF board for the release of 9th tranche of the IMF Extended Fund Facility.… Continue

The proposed unprecedented tax hike for the tax-paying tobacco companies will effectively favour the already vast illicit cigarette manufacturers in Pakistan. This will also lead to significant shortfalls in Government revenue as the volumes will massively shift from the tax-paid sector to the non-tax-paid sector as often seen in the past, Said spokesperson Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd.… Continue

· A range bound session was witnessed at PSX today. The KSE-100 index opened in green, but rumors of emergent policy meeting kept the index choppy and traded in narrow range throughout the day as investor participation remained sluggish, however in the last trading hour profit selling were observed across the board which led the index to close in the red.… Continue

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at US$ 8,702.2 million as of 10-Feb-2023. The break-up of the foreign reserves position is as under:

Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan: US$ 3,192.9 million

Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks    : US$ 5,509.3 million

Total liquid foreign reserves                 : US$ 8,702.2 million

During the week ended on 10-Feb-2023, SBP’s reserves increased by US$ 276 million to US$ 3,192.9 million.… Continue

Gillette Pakistan today announced Pakistan National Cricket Team’s superstar and sensational bowler, Naseem Shah, as its newest brand ambassador along with campaign launch of the first locally produced razor, Blue 3 Flexi, at a private event held at its Head Office in Karachi.… Continue

The Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC) is scheduled to announce its 2QFY23 financial result on Feb 16th, 2023. We forecast the company to post a consolidated profit after tax of PKR 12,097mn (EPS: PKR 9.33) in 2QFY23 compared to PKR 4,796mn (EPS: PKR 3.70) during 2QFY22.… Continue

·      The PSX recorded a productive session today. The market opened in the green and traded within the same range as investors continued to be optimistic about the potential policy-level agreement between the government and IMF mission. Due to the resolution of the Gas Circular debt, the E&P sector remained in the spotlight although volumes remained strong overall.… Continue

·      The bulls took charge at the PSX today. The market opened in the green and continued to trade with optimistic sentiments throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of 826.83 points as a result of ongoing negotiations in the capital city between the government and the IMF mission.… Continue