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Banking

Encashment deadline for withdrawn prize bonds extended

KARACHI: The federal government has announced its decision to extend the last date for encashment of withdrawn prize...

Published 28 Dec, 2022 04:12am

Banking

China central bank publishes disclosure rules for credit bonds

The rules are amied at improving the quality of information disclosure, helping enhance transparency and protect investors.

Published 28 Dec, 2020 05:40pm

Banking

Italy's UniCredit says board would never agree to harmful deal

French CEO of UniCredit said M&A was "no panacea".
Mustier at odds with Italy's consolidation drive.
Italy has been seeking buyer for Monte dei Paschi.
JPMorgan says successor will have "big shoes to fill".

Published 02 Dec, 2020 02:15am

Banking

US bank profits recover from early 2020 turmoil, still down from year prior

The industry's profits jumped 173% in the third quarter to $51.2 billion, after firms spent the first half of the year setting aside billions of dollars to offset expected pandemic-driven losses.
The banking industry remains well-capitalized with ample liquidity and has, to date.

Published 02 Dec, 2020 12:24am

Banking

Debt debate – context would not hurt!

Lately, a few commentators have been talking on public debt, and the narrative is populist. In economics, absolute numbe

Updated 03 Dec, 2019 11:39am

Banking

The brave new banking world

‘Banks want to play tech companies,’ read a headline in this newspaper earlier this month. Given a private sector ch

Updated 20 Nov, 2019 06:21am

Banking

Banking: Big five take decent strides

The big five (B5) banks lent almost similar amount to the private sector in 9MCY19, that they did a year ago. The net ad

Updated 05 Nov, 2019 06:16am

Banking

NBP 9MCY19: Sound and strong

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has continued its strong performance, as reflected by strong profit numbers for 9MCY19.

Updated 31 Oct, 2019 08:11am

Banking

SBP focuses Investment constraints

The SBP in its recently released annual report has incorporated a chapter on factors constraining investment in Pakistan

Updated 30 Oct, 2019 06:46am

Banking

Doing business: beyond World Bank rankings

Pakistan’s poor ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business indicators is one of the main deterrents to growth in

Updated 28 Oct, 2019 06:40am

Banking

Bank Alfalah: upbeat profits

Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) posted double digit year-on-year growth in pretax profits for 9MCY19, despite the challengin

Updated 28 Oct, 2019 06:47am

Banking

Bank Al Habib profits grow

Bank Al Habib Limited (BAHL) is doing pretty well. It posted a sizable 30 percent year-on-year increase in pre-tax profi

Updated 25 Oct, 2019 06:02am

Banking

Demonetization: ‘objective’ matters

It is almost three years since the great macroeconomic experiment of "demonetization" had taken place in India. That so-

Updated 23 Oct, 2019 12:58pm

Banking

Ants, elephants, and SME finance

Access to affordable finance has long been labelled as one of the key obstacles to SME growth in Pakistan. But is that n

Updated 23 Oct, 2019 01:04pm

Banking

ABL goes smooth

Allied Bank Limited (ABL) announced its 9MCY19 financial results last week, accompanied with an interim dividend of Rs2

Updated 21 Oct, 2019 06:25am

Banking

All is well at MCB

The challenging economic conditions seem to have done no harm to MCB Bank’s profits. The bank also continued with the ri

Updated 18 Oct, 2019 06:02am

Banking

Profits grow at UBL

UBL announced its 9MCY19 financial results yesterday, making good strides, accompanied with an interim dividend of Rs3/s

Updated 17 Oct, 2019 07:25am

Banking

HBL: pretax profits up

Having had a slightly challenging 2QCY19, in terms of profitability, the country’s largest commercial bank, HBL stag

Updated 16 Oct, 2019 06:40am

Banking

Forget the heat - the flow is here

The hot money is getting hotter in Pakistan. At an unprecedented level of $234 million in Sep-19, the year to date inflo

Updated 23 Oct, 2019 01:39pm

Banking

NBP – impressive again

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) keeps churning profits, and 1HCY19 was no different. Save from a higher effective tax ra

Updated 02 Sep, 2019 05:17am

Banking

Reported fiscal deficit – not too scary

Yesterday, the ministry of finance reported the fiscal deficit number at 8.9 percent of GDP or Rs3.44 trillion. This spa

Updated 28 Aug, 2019 06:57am

Banking

JSBL 1HCY19

JS Bank Limited has had it tough in 2019 so far. That should not come as a surprise as most sectors have had it tough th

Updated 28 Aug, 2019 06:50am

Banking

Scary fiscal deficit – don’t look at it

The country’s total debt and liabilities increased by 35 percent or Rs10.3 trillion in FY19 to reach Rs40.2 trillion – 1

Updated 27 Aug, 2019 11:38am

Banking

Changing sentiments?

Last week the news flow was positive; and the stock market reacted to it with 9 percent recovery. A fresh wave of positi

Published 26 Aug, 2019 06:46am

Banking

BOP: double digit growth

The Bank of Punjab (BOP) rode on the exemplary top line growth, which trickled down to the bottom line, posting a double

Published 26 Aug, 2019 06:05am

Banking

FDI: finding neverland

FDI data is here; FDI isn’t - unless one really counts those peanut-sized net inflows of $73.4 million in July 2019.

Updated 29 Aug, 2019 05:10am

Banking

Askari Bank marches on

The blueprint for banks this season – big, mid-sized and small, has been by and large the same. Bank on higher interest

Published 23 Aug, 2019 05:57am

Banking

The yield curve inversion

The market participated with full heart in the recent PIB auction, indicating that the pulse in rates is peaked. Market

Published 23 Aug, 2019 05:44am

Banking

Current account in control

The current account deficit is down to $579 million in July19; almost one fourth of what was in the July18 – just before

Published 22 Aug, 2019 06:50am

Banking

Bank Al Habib sails smooth

Bank Al Habib Limited (BAHL) posted a strong 1HCY19 financial performance, registering 21 percent year-on-year increase

Published 22 Aug, 2019 06:47am

Banking

ABL 1HCY19: well poised

Allied Bank Limited (ABL) posted its financial results for 1hCY19, accompanied with an interim dividend of Rs2 per share

Published 21 Aug, 2019 05:41am

Banking

BAFL takes steady strides

Having faced a slightly underpay 1QCY19. Bank Alfalah (BAFL) made a strong comeback in the second quarter, posting 14 pe

Published 20 Aug, 2019 05:26am

Banking

Re-profiling of central bank debt

There has been an exercise of re-profiling the government’s central bank debt – conversion of short term government debt

Published 19 Aug, 2019 06:35am

Banking

Sustaining remittances

A good start to FY20, worker remittances for July 2019 as per SBP’s recently released data has risen by 8 percent on a y

Published 19 Aug, 2019 06:08am

Banking

Enough tightening – time to change signals

Since the last monetary announcement in Pakistan, where policy rate was increased by 100 bps, the global market behavior

Published 16 Aug, 2019 05:37am

Banking

UBL: top line and bottom line grow

UBL has made good strides in 1HCY19. The bank announced its financial results for 1HCY19 earlier this week, accompanied

Published 09 Aug, 2019 06:58am

Banking

MCB shines in tough times

MCB Bank announced its 1HCY19 financial results yesterday, continuing the rich tradition of hefty dividends. There was a

Published 08 Aug, 2019 08:00am

Banking

Missing sovereign guarantees

The fate of Rs200 billion power sector Sukuk – to park circular debt in another company, and Rs20 billion market support

Published 08 Aug, 2019 07:39am

Banking

HBL: top line grows, bottom line doesn’t

Having had a decent first quarter, HBL underwent some pressure in the 2QCY1, as a drastic reduction in contribution form

Published 25 Jul, 2019 06:43am

Banking

Pakistan’s economic stepchild

Labour, not textile, is Pakistan’s biggest export. Measured by worker remittance flows, labour export is in fact nearly

Updated 13 Jan, 2020 09:51am

Banking

PEP: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

This week, the central bank issued a fresh circular concerning opening of bank accounts of politically exposed persons o

Published 19 Jul, 2019 06:41am

Banking

Policy rate: Is this the peak?

Having complied with the IMF raising the interest rates by 150 bps in May 2019 as part of prior action, the Central bank

Published 17 Jul, 2019 07:20am

Banking

SBP doesn’t hold back

It looks like the monetary authority will not pull any punches. Reading between the lines, the State Bank of Pakistan’s

Published 17 Jul, 2019 07:16am

Banking

FDI – is manufacturing the missing link?

Volatile exchange rate, delay in the finalisation of IMF program and weaknesses at the fiscal and external front have al

Published 17 Jul, 2019 07:01am

Banking

External account: fully financed?

Both the IMF and the finance minister have declared that Pakistan is “fully financed” for FY20 to meet its external requ

Published 12 Jul, 2019 06:29am

Banking

Hold onto remittances

With hopes of economic revival still distant as exports continue to paint a dreary picture, banking on remittances to pr

Published 12 Jul, 2019 06:17am

Banking

Can DFS get merchants on board?

Bringing retailers on board is a huge challenge for Pakistan’s digital financial services (DFS) ecosystem. Next door, In

Published 11 Jul, 2019 06:35am

Banking

Wanted: a common payment interface

Not having a ubiquitous payment scheme has been a source of discomfort among freelancer community and e-commerce stores.

Published 28 Jun, 2019 05:54am

Banking

Bringing currency back

There is no stoppage to fiscal deficit growth. FBR collection by June end is likely to be less than last year. The next

Updated 24 Jun, 2019 07:03am

Banking

CAD: slippery again

The current account deficit (CAD) is starting to drift again. In April and May 2019, CAD’s monthly average crossed the b

Published 21 Jun, 2019 05:39am

Banking

Decision times: bold and cold

The strategy is to accumulate foreign currency from the local market at lucrative rates. The interest rates are rising,

Updated 20 Jun, 2019 08:13am

Banking

Poor FDI, unwelcoming environment

One area that needs policy focus – foreign investment in the country – continues to be neglected. Or perhaps the efforts

Published 20 Jun, 2019 06:49am

Banking

What should be on SBP governor’s agenda?

This week’s press conference, the first by Pakistan’s newest central bank governor, shows that Reza Baqir has finally st

Published 20 Jun, 2019 06:44am

Banking

Betting on remittances

That Pakistan received a significantly higher amount of remittances from overseas Pakistani’s is a much needed breather

Published 19 Jun, 2019 06:15am

Banking

Wait-and-see!

If yesterday’s press conference of SBP governor Dr Reza Baqir is any indication, all eyes are on controlling inflation t

Published 18 Jun, 2019 06:22am

Banking

No more tightening

The SBP Governor in a public gathering spoke about the interest rate determination. He was spot on to say that the objec

Published 17 Jun, 2019 06:46am

Banking

No credit to credit expansion

The decline in the economy is manifesting in the lending patterns to private sector businesses and consumers which is ar

Published 11 Jun, 2019 05:31am

Banking

Streamlining internal remittances

Rural to urban migration and hence diversification of income source can be key in addressing poverty in rural areas and

Published 03 Jun, 2019 07:11am

Banking

Inverted yield curve - a healthy sign

The MoF is one up. Market is one down. The PIB auction earlier this week surprised everyone, but it should not have come

Published 31 May, 2019 06:42am

Banking

Fiscal debt trap brewing

Is the government of Pakistan getting into a debt trap? Probably yes. Back in 2014, this space cautioned about the loomi

Published 29 May, 2019 04:58am

Banking

God’s gift to treasury

The economy is nose diving and it is time for banks to make merry in the PIBs bonanza. The IMF conditionality is creatin

Published 28 May, 2019 06:33am

Banking

Alarming fiscal deficit

Nothing is going right. The fiscal deficit stood at 5 percent of GDP in 9MFY19 - highest ever deficit since Pakistan sta

Published 22 May, 2019 03:54am

Banking

Why aren’t foreign investors betting on Pakistan?

“Pakistan is the land of opportunities”. So maintains the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Hard data on the ot

Published 22 May, 2019 03:49am

Banking

Rise in inactive m-wallets

Much of the current government’s financial inclusion agenda depends on making digital transaction accounts (DTAs) grow i

Published 21 May, 2019 07:39am

Banking

MPS: A step too soon?

There was a strong noise of 150 bps increase; and it happened. The rumor had it as a prior IMF condition and this perhap

Published 21 May, 2019 07:08am

Banking

Rate hike unwarranted, yet likely

The genie is coming out of bottle. One of the IMF pre conditions of market based exchange rate is already manifested. No

Published 20 May, 2019 05:42am

Banking

Amnesty – right step but too small

Yet another amnesty scheme is announced. Do not expect any miracles in it, but at the same time, do not take it too casu

Published 16 May, 2019 06:14am

Banking

The ‘bombshell’ school of economics

The state of Pakistan’s economy is a new anguish of concern for the country’s media, politicians, and of course its citi

Published 16 May, 2019 06:12am

Banking

Prepone the monetary policy

The IMF deal is done; but uncertainty prevails. The market demands clarity on the quantum and timings of prior actions.

Published 15 May, 2019 06:32am

Banking

The deal is here

The IMF programme is finalized. In Naya Pakistan, it was announced in an old fashioned way by a technocrat FM in PTV 9 P

Published 14 May, 2019 05:42am

Banking

IMF: be counter-cyclical

Since the IMF’s statement regarding a staff-level loan agreement with Pakistan was released May 12, economic observers h

Published 14 May, 2019 05:26am

Banking

Remittances remain faithful

With the economy sailing into choppy waters, the growth in remittances continues to provide some shock mitigation capabi

Published 13 May, 2019 05:28am

Banking

Facilitating FDI investment

Pakistan’s foreign direct investment has been nothing to write home about. The 9MFY19 numbers have been dismal with FDI

Published 10 May, 2019 04:41am

Banking

Provinces-IMF meet: anything beyond goodwill?

The provincial finance ministers recently met the IMF. Goodwill messages ensued. If the press releases are any guide, th

Published 09 May, 2019 04:01am

Banking

En route IMF: beware of too much tightening

Nothing is certain on how the negotiations with the IMF culminate, as there is a complete change of economic team. Those

Published 08 May, 2019 06:26am

Banking

Of NPLs and banking courts

Banks in Pakistan lack credit robustness and one reason, apart from banks’ own laziness and higher government financing

Updated 29 Apr, 2019 10:00am

Banking

Allied Bank: doing just fine

Allied Bank Limited (ABL) announced its financial results for 1QCY19 accompanied with the first interim dividend of Rs2

Published 26 Apr, 2019 06:06am

Banking

HBL – pre-tax profit growth

Save for the retrospective imposition of Super Tax on 2017 profits, HBL delivered promising 1QCY19 results. Better still

Published 25 Apr, 2019 05:28am

Banking

MCB – no stopping the dividends

MCB Bank does not mind paying rich dividends. It announced another Rs4/share as first interim dividend yesterday, contin

Published 25 Apr, 2019 05:19am

Banking

Import led CAD breather

The current account deficit at $822 million for Mar19 is little higher than market expectations, but the direction is ri

Published 23 Apr, 2019 06:04am

Banking

The FDI gloom

Remittances have been growing and supporting the current account deficit; and the government and the central bank have b

Published 23 Apr, 2019 05:46am

Banking

Wanted: telecom FDI

It’s a season of doom for Pakistan’s overall net FDI, which fell 51 percent year-on-year – or $1.35 billion – in 9MFY19.

Published 22 Apr, 2019 06:20am

Banking

Shifting government deposits: tread with caution

The talks on implementing Treasury Single Account [TSA] are back in action. It is perhaps one of the IMF to be condition

Published 18 Apr, 2019 06:29am

Banking

PIBs – say no to high rates

The PIB auction is scheduled today. Recent behavior of auctions is erratic. With DG debt at the helm, Ministry of financ

Published 17 Apr, 2019 07:00am

Banking

T -Bills auction - bold move

The bid pattern of this week T-Bills auction brings no surprises. The market is expecting another rate hike in May 19 mo

Published 12 Apr, 2019 07:05am

Banking

Remittances - the saviour

The significance of remittances for Pakistan’s economy is well-documented; but the precarious nature of the country’s ec

Published 12 Apr, 2019 06:39am

Banking

Why all this tightening?

Earlier in 2017, when economic stresses were building with excess demand reflecting in the external account, the SBP was

Published 09 Apr, 2019 05:06am

Banking

Dollar outlook

In mid-October 2018, the interbank forex market was desperate for dollars – as desperate as it was in June 2013. The des

Updated 03 Mar, 2021 10:35am

Banking

Stable REER – no need for massive depreciation

The real effective exchange rate (REER) is getting stable. The number stood at 103.31 in Feb19 and last three months’ (D

Published 04 Apr, 2019 06:44am

Banking

Rate hike uncalled for

So, 50 bps it is. Get ready for the IMF; forget fundamentals or what is happening in the world. The IMF wants Pakistan p

Published 01 Apr, 2019 05:45am

Banking

Branchless banking: the power of two

The branchless banking (BB) segment, which is increasingly been seen by policymakers as a medium for financial inclusion

Published 01 Apr, 2019 05:10am

Banking

M-wallets: just a numbers game?

Another quarter, another round of growth for mobile wallets. As per the central bank’s latest publication on the Branchl

Published 29 Mar, 2019 05:53am

Banking

Interest rates: No rationale for hike

The monetary policy is due tomorrow - market expects no change to 75 bps increase in policy rate, currently at 10.25 per

Published 28 Mar, 2019 07:00am

Banking

Remittance from Malaysia rising

Remittances have played a crucial role for the balance of payment position of the country especially when exports have r

Published 28 Mar, 2019 06:43am

Forex
World
Commodity

Currency	Rate
USD PKR Interbank Selling / Nov 25	277.83
USD PKR Interbank Buying / Nov 25	277.73
USD to Japanese Yen / Nov 27	152.46
USD to Swiss Franc / Nov 27	0.89
Pound Sterling to USD / Nov 27	1.26
Euro to USD / Nov 27	1.05

Stock	Volume
S&P 500 / Nov 26	6,021.63
India Sensex / Nov 26	80,004.06
Tokyo Nikkei / Nov 26	38,152.61
Nasdaq / Nov 26	19,175.58
Hang Seng / Nov 26	19,249.91
FTSE 100 / Nov 26	8,258.61
Dow Jones / Nov 26	44,860.31
Germany DAX 30 / Nov 26	19,295.98

Item	Value
Karachi Cotton PKR/37.32 KG / Nov 26	17,685
Gold 10 Grams PKR / Nov 26	239,716
Petrol/Litre / Nov 27	248.38
Crude Oil USD/Barrel / Nov 27	68.80
Gold Spot USD/Ounce / Nov 27	2,637.94
Diesel/Litre / Nov 27	255.14

Gainers
Losers
Leaders

Stock	Price
786 Invest Ltd / Nov 27 786 Investments Limited(786)	6.48 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abbas Sugar / Nov 27 Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Limited(AABS)	610.84 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Agro Allianz / Nov 27 Agro Allianz Limited(AAL)	16 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abid Silk / Nov 27 Al-Abid Silk Mills Limited(AASM)	3.49 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Ali Asghar / Nov 27 Ali Asghar Textile Mills Limited(AATM)	68.52 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Allied Bank / Nov 27 Allied Bank Limited(ABL)	125.50 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abbott Lab. / Nov 27 Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited(ABOT)	917.87 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abson Ind. / Nov 27 Abson Industries Limited(ABSON)	2.50 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Alfalah ETF. / Nov 27 Alfalah Consumer Index ETF.(ACIETF)	11.82 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)

Stock	Price
786 Invest Ltd / Nov 27 786 Investments Limited(786)	6.48 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abbas Sugar / Nov 27 Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Limited(AABS)	610.84 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Agro Allianz / Nov 27 Agro Allianz Limited(AAL)	16 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abid Silk / Nov 27 Al-Abid Silk Mills Limited(AASM)	3.49 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Ali Asghar / Nov 27 Ali Asghar Textile Mills Limited(AATM)	68.52 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Allied Bank / Nov 27 Allied Bank Limited(ABL)	125.50 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abbott Lab. / Nov 27 Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited(ABOT)	917.87 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abson Ind. / Nov 27 Abson Industries Limited(ABSON)	2.50 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Alfalah ETF. / Nov 27 Alfalah Consumer Index ETF.(ACIETF)	11.82 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)

Stock	Volume
K-Electric Ltd. / Nov 27 K-Electric Limited(KEL)	101,636,133 ▲ 0.00
B.O.Punjab / Nov 27 The Bank of Punjab(BOP)	92,023,190 ▲ 0.00
Hascol Petrol / Nov 27 Hascol Petroleum Limited(HASCOL)	73,320,431 ▲ 0.00
Fauji Foods Ltd / Nov 27 Fauji Foods Limited(FFL)	54,116,789 ▲ 0.00
Sui South Gas / Nov 27 Sui Southern Gas Company Limited(SSGC)	54,088,119 ▲ 0.00
Treet Battery / Nov 27 Treet Battery Limited(TBL)	49,797,748 ▲ 0.00
Pace (Pak) Ltd. / Nov 27 Pace (Pakistan) Limited(PACE)	47,465,434 ▲ 0.00
WorldCall Telecom / Nov 27 Worldcall Telecom Limited(WTL)	44,206,223 ▲ 0.00
Cnergyico PK / Nov 27 Cnergyico PK Limited(CNERGY)	34,058,498 ▲ 0.00

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