Pakistanis protest against improving trade with India

MUZAFFARABAD: Hundreds of Islamist activists in Pakistani-administered Kashmir on Friday demonstrated against the government’s decision to take steps to improve trade with India. Pakistan’s cabinet last month said it approved a proposal giving India the status of “most favoured nation” in a move towards normalising trade relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Members of banned Islamist groups including Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, and hardline religious party Jamaat-e-Islami gathered in the main square in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Protesters shouted slogans against the Pakistani government and were joined by supporters of the main opposition party of former...

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Provinces borrowing heavily from SBP

KARACHI: The provincial governments have been borrowing heavily from the State Bank despite the fact that they are receiving over 57 per cent revenue from the federal divisible pool. The transfer of allocated funds under the central pool has not been smooth, but the provinces are also responsible for mishandling even the available funds. Borrowings from the central bank may be a remedy for slow supply of allocated funds from the centre because this is an easy way to get cash. But these borrowings will cost them higher as interest on the money would significantly reduce the size of allocated revenue. According to SBP figures on Wednesday, the provinces collectively borrowed Rs56 billion over the past four and half months. The trend is...

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Posted in: BUSINESS