News

Toll rates increased again by up to 50pc

In less than three months, the National Highway Authority (NHA) has again increased toll tax by 15 to 50 per cent for its motorways and highways, effective April 1. Earlier, the toll was increased on January 5. Under the revised toll taxes, the NHA charges Rs70 for cars against Rs60.For vans and jeeps, the toll tax has been increased to Rs150 from Rs100. Similarly, the toll for buses has be

Remittances to exceed $3.5bn in March

Remittances are expected to cross a record high of $3.5 billion in March, rising 15 per cent month-on-month, driven largely by inflows during Ramazan, according to financial experts and currency dealers. The spike in remittances has provided the government with much-needed breathing space, easing the burden of external debt repayments and providing strong support to the exchange rate. “We ha

‘Pricey’ Starlink not an immediate threat, say telcos

As the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is set to grant final approval to Starlink to commence operations in Pakistan shortly, scepticism and fear of the unknown are visible among the telecom industry. There is a lot of speculation related to Starlink’s arrival, but all four telecom operators in Pakistan agree that it is difficult to predict the outcome right now. Responding to the

Shares at PSX surge 1,100 points after IMF agreement

Bulls dominated the trade floor on Wednesday as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged more than 1,100 points after a successful review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 1,390.46 points, or 1.19 per cent to stand at 118,023.62 from the previous close of 116,633.16 at 9:22am. Finally, the index closed at 117,772.31, up

Fleecing lambs

One was to send the changes to the net metering policy back to the energy ministry for reconsideration. And the other was to reinstate a tax rebate allowed to researchers and teachers in higher education institutions which everyone was told suddenly in December 2024 had been withdrawn in the budget announced in June 2022. In both instances, we had a story that was rather typical of how things a