by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
DUBAI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it had reviewed Pakistan’s economic performance and will make available a further $510 million to the country as part of a three-year, $6.7 billion financial assistance programme.
The money will be provided when the review is approved by the IMF’s management and executive board, the Fund said in a statement, describing its discussions with Pakistan as “productive” and adding that performance criteria in the programme had been met.
“After productive discussions, the mission and the Pakistani authorities have reached staff- level agreement on the completion of the eleventh review under the EFF arrangement,” said Harald Finger, the Fund’s mission chief for Pakistan.
The statement added that growth has remained robust despite a weak cotton harvest and declining exports amid a more challenging global environment.
“Real GDP growth is expected to reach 4.5 percent in FY 2015/16 and 4.7 percent in FY 2016/17, helped by favorable oil prices, rising investment, including related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), improvements in energy supply, buoyant construction activity, and acceleration of credit growth.”
IMF stated that all end-March 2016 quantitative performance criteria, including the budget deficit target and the floor on the SBP’s net international reserves, have been met.
Pakistan’s gross domestic product growth is projected at 4.5 per cent in the 2015/16 fiscal year and 4.7pc in the following year, the IMF said.
The agreement was reached after the IMF mission held discussions with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, SBP Governor Ashraf Wathra and other senior officials in Dubai from May 2 to May 11.
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
Islamabad : (IANS) Indian Punjabi film “Ambarsariya” has been banned in Pakistan because it makes “strong references” to the Indian intelligence agency RAW.
“The movie makes strong references to Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which is why the panel decided against it,” The Express Tribune quoted Mobasher Hasan, chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), as saying.
According to Hasan, a CBFC panel first voted against the movie. After the film distributor’s appeal, the full board of the CBFC reviewed it but backed the ban.
Asked if “Ambarsariya” would have been fit for release if the references to RAW had been edited out, the Tribune quoted Hasan as saying: “That would not be possible since the movie is primarily about RAW and editing would have affected its story.
“It is a film set in India and we have stopped its release because it focuses on RAW.”
Starring Diljit Dosanjh, Naveet Kaur and Monica Gill in lead roles, “Ambarsariya” follows the story of a man who lives a dual life as a member of RAW and an insurance agent, the daily said.
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | News
Islamabad:(IANS) Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has stopped his ministers from giving anti-India statements so that the peace process is not hit, an official said.
A close aide to Sharif said on Friday that the ministers and senior officials had been asked not to issue any statement that could damage the peace process.
“There will be statements only that encourage the dialogue process rather than digging out the past. The PM has asked the close aides and cabinet members to promote peace,” The Nation quoted an official as saying.
He said Sharif was optimistic about better ties with India, which would benefit the whole region.
Sharif was annoyed by statements from India that New Delhi only wanted to discuss Pakistan occupied Kashmir in talks, but understands this is not Inidan government’s policy, the official added.
Sharif, the official said, wanted to give top priority to Kashmir, terrorism and trade when the two sides discuss peace.
Another official said Sharif and the military leadership were on the same page to make peace with India.
“There is no difference of opinion and both agree that there should be no compromise on the stated position on key issues,” he added.
An interaction between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Paris and subsequent meeting of the National Security Advisors in Bangkok set the pace for improvement in the bilateral ties.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also visited Pakistan on December 8 to attend the Heart of Asia conference.
She met Sharif and his advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the conference.
It is expected that Sharif and Modi will meet again in Switzerland in January. The two leaders will be together on January 20 to attend the 46th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters.
India’s outgoing High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan on Thursday said the relations between the two countries were heading towards betterment.
Analysts said it was a positive development that Pakistan and India agreed to resume comprehensive dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues.
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Photo ;Facebook
Islamabad (IINA) – On the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) launched its annual “Eid al-Adha sheep” project for the distribution of sacrificial meat to the poor, needy, orphans and widows in Pakistan.
The project was inaugurated on Friday at the Regional Office of IIRO and the Muslim World League (MWL) in Islamabad, under the auspices of Charge d’Affaires at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan chancellor Marwan Mirdad and in the presence of a delegation from IIRO General Secretariat – the supervising body over the distribution process – and a number of Pakistani officials.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), chancellor Mirdad said this project comes as an extension of the ongoing assistance provided by the Saudi government and people to alleviate the poverty and miseries of the needy Pakistani people.
For his part, Regional Director of the Muslim World League and Director of IIRO Office in Pakistan Abdo Muhammad Ateen said in a statement to SPA that the sacrificial meat program which was launched on Friday will contain 156 cows equivalent to 1,085 sacrificial sheep, to be distributed to 6,200 needy families in 12 districts across Pakistan. He added that the beneficiaries have been selected precisely through professional approach.
Ateen stated that the delegation of IIRO General Secretariat that has already arrived in Pakistan will oversee the distribution of the project’s sacrificial meat.
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, World
Islamabad:(IANS) The international impact of the stock market collapse was felt in Pakistan, said a daily here on Tuesday.
An editorial “Black August” in the News International said that following the panic in the international stock markets created by a slowdown of the Chinese economy, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE-100) plummeted by 1,300 points near the close of trading on Monday, down around 4 percent on a single day.
Analysts have blamed the panicking small investors and the exit of foreign investors from the market. Some suggest foreign investors made profits by selling Pakistani stocks as they suffered serious losses in other emerging markets.
The daily said that market capitalisation fell by Rs.300 billion.
“In addition to the Chinese slowdown, the international downturn is also being attributed to the fall in international commodity prices, uncertainty over when US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates and the Greek economic collapse.”
The editorial said that the crisis started when the Chinese government decided to devalue the yuan by around 2 percent two weeks ago which sparked concerns over low growth in Chinese exports.
Experts have now predicted that the devaluation of the Chinese currency is likely to flood the market with cash.
“The biggest impact was felt by Chinese stock markets where the Chinese Shanghai Composite index came down by 8.5 percent on Monday. This is the biggest one-day slump in China since 2007.”
“…The impact of what is being called ‘Black Monday’ is being felt across the globe with KSE-100 being a small part of the global collapse… While some observers are calling it a ‘correction’ in the global markets, Monday has shown an underlying instability in the global financial system,” said the daily.
The editorial went on to say that the three key nodes of the global economy are in a steady crisis. “Europe, the US and China are all facing serious problems.”
“There are no immediate remedies available in the stock market as the international impact of the collapse will be felt in Pakistan.”
It added that the month of August has wiped at least $5 trillion off the global economy.
“Is this a full-blown economic crisis?,” the daily asked and added: “It is too early to say.”
“But it does say something about the volatility of the global economy that a decrease in the value of the Chinese currency has set off questions about the entire economic recovery story that has been painted since the last global economic crisis in 2007,” it said.
