ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday warned authorities against any delay in investment projects initiated by friend countries in Pakistan, state media reported, amid Islamabad’s efforts to put the dwindling South Asian economy back on track.
The directives by the prime minister came at a meeting he presided over in the federal capital of Islamabad to review the country’s economy and investment landscape. Sharif said the $350 South Asian economy was on the path to grow.
Since avoiding a default last year, Pakistan has been making desperate attempts to revive its fragile economy and reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July for a new $7 billion loan.
Sharif said the recent upgradation of Pakistan’s ratings to Caa2 from Caa3 by an international credit ratings agency, Moody’s, was an acknowledgement of the “sound economic policies” of his government, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Keen interest of friendly countries to invest billions of rupees in Pakistan’s various sectors is a result of business-friendly policies of the government,” he was quoted as saying.
“Any delay in the implementation of investment projects from friendly countries is not acceptable.”
Pakistan has reached investment deals with a number of countries, mainly China and the Gulf states, in infrastructure, energy, maritime, ports and other sectors.
During the meeting, Sharif directed his cabinet members and relevant institutions to take steps to accelerate the pace of ongoing projects and ensure transparency in their implementation.
He highlighted enormous investment potential in the country’s information technology (IT), agriculture, minerals, gemstones and energy sectors.
“Foreign investment in these sectors will not only boost exports’ volume, but it will create job opportunities for the youth,” he noted.
Pakistan PM warns against delay in investment projects by friendly countries
https://arab.news/pjf29
Pakistan PM warns against delay in investment projects by friendly countries
- Since avoiding a default last year, Pakistan has been making desperate attempts to revive its fragile $350 billion economy
- PM Shehbaz Sharif asks relevant institutions to take steps to accelerate the pace of ongoing projects, ensure transparency
Pakistan unveils first-ever policy to regulate digital assets in line with FATF guidelines
- New policy will set rules for the operation of digital currencies and related companies in Pakistan
- Pakistan Crypto Council was established in March to create legal framework for digital currencies
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has introduced its first-ever policy framework to regulate virtual assets and service providers, aligning with compliance and financial integrity guidelines of the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the country’s top investigation agency said on Thursday.
The new policy, created by a special government group under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF) authority, is meant to set rules for how digital money like cryptocurrencies and the companies that deal in it should operate in Pakistan.
The move follows the establishment of the Pakistan Crypto Council last month to create a legal framework to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in a bid to lure international investment.
Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin are not officially regulated in Pakistan but are also not illegal or banned. As of Jan. 16, 2021, the State Bank of Pakistan has not authorized any individuals or organizations to carry out the sale, purchase, exchange, and investment of virtual currencies, coins, and tokens.
“Pakistan has formulated its first-ever comprehensive policy framework for the regulation of Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers,” the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said in a statement.
The policy will be scrutinized by stakeholders and legislative proceedings before being implemented in phases from next year.
The policy aims to curb money laundering, terrorism financing, financial instability and the potentials of blockchain-based finance and also provide space for innovation and develop institutional expertise.
“This is a paradigm shift in how Pakistan views digital finance,” FIA Director Sumera Azam was quoted in the statement as saying. “The policy proposal seeks to strike a historic balance between technological advancement and national security imperatives.”
She added that the framework aligned with FATF Recommendation 15 on compliance and financial integrity.
FATF Recommendation 15, titled “New Technologies,” ensures that AML and CFT frameworks are adaptable to emerging financial technologies, including virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.
Pakistan markets rebound as Trump makes tariff U-turn
- US President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day delay in tariffs
- KSE-100 Index surged by over 2,036 points following the announcement
KARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market bounced back on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day delay in tariffs, analysts said.
The KSE-100 Index surged by over 2,036 points (1.75 percent), following the announcement.
On Wednesday (April 9), the KSE-100 Index had dropped 5 percent, leading to a 45-minute halt in trading.
Zafar Moti, CEO of Zafar Moti Capital Securities, said the decision helped calm investors, while Ahsan Mehanti, Managing Director and CEO of Arif Habib Group, said the pause in tariffs was seen as good news by investors.
“The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed on a positive note,” Topline Securities said in its daily market review.
“This upward trajectory was fueled by a strong rebound in US and other international equity markets, with the index rallying as much as 3,331 points during intraday trading.”
No extension in deadline to deport illegal foreigners from Pakistan — minister
- Over 850,000 people repatriated since a deportation drive was launched in late 2023
- Pakistan has expelled over 8,000 Afghan nationals in the past week, UNHRC says
ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on Thursday the government was not considering extending the deadline for illegal foreigners to leave the country, with over 850,000 people repatriated since a deportation drive was launched in late 2023.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning that they would otherwise be deported from April 1. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of foreign citizens that began in November 2023.
Pakistan has expelled more than 8,000 Afghan nationals in the past week in a fresh repatriation drive after the expiry of a March 31 deadline, the UNHCR said on Tuesday.
“The first and foremost thing I want to share with you is that there is no deadline extension [to deport illegal foreigners] being considered or given, nor will there be any extension,” Chaudhry said at a press conference, saying 857,157 people had been repatriated since 2023, including those residing in Pakistan illegally and ACC holders.
“Particularly in the case of Afghan nationals, this decision had to be made after considering some ground realities,” he said, accusing Afghan nations of being involved in militant attacks, narcotics trade and other crimes.
Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade in Pakistan, with more than 1,600 people killed in militant attacks, nearly half of them security forces personnel, according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil, a charge Kabul denies, saying it does not allow its territory to be used by militants against Pakistan. It also says Afghan nationals are not involved in terrorism and other crimes in Pakistan and Islamabad’s security and criminality issues are a domestic problem.
Pakistan distances itself from extradition to India of 2008 Mumbai attacks’ suspect
- Foreign office says Tahawwur Hussain Rana was Canadian, had not renewed Pakistani origin documents in decades
- 64-year-old is accused of being in LeT group, planning four-day Mumbai siege in which 160 people were killed in 2008
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday distanced itself from the issue of the extradition to India of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, saying he was a Canadian national who had not renewed his Pakistani origin documents in the past two decades.
New Delhi accuses Rana, 64, of being a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or the Army of the Pure, a group blamed by India and the United States for the four-day Mumbai siege in which 160 people, including Americans and other foreigners, were killed in 2008. Rana is accused of assisting his friend David Coleman Headley who was sentenced to 35 years in a US prison after pleading guilty to aiding LeT militants and scouting target locations in Mumbai.
Pakistan has always denied official complicity in the Mumbai attacks.
“On the Tahawwur Rana issue, we have conveyed our position regarding his Canadian nationality,” Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said in reply to a question during a weekly media briefing.
“As far as our record indicates, he did not even apply for renewal for his Pakistani origin documents for the last two decades …I reiterate the position that we will give further updates in due course.”
In February, US President Donald Trump announced the extradition of Rana, calling him “one of the very evil people in the world.”
The US Supreme Court rejected Rana’s plea in February to remain in the country, where he was serving a sentence for planning another LeT-linked attack.
According to a Reuters report, Rana, a former Pakistan Army doctor, immigrated to Canada in 1997 before moving to Chicago to set up businesses. He was arrested by US authorities in 2009, a year after the Mumbai attacks.
In 2013, a US court acquitted him of conspiring in the Mumbai attacks but sentenced him to 14 years for plotting an attack on the Jyllands-Posten newspaper office in Denmark, which had published blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).
Media has reported that Rana and Headley knew each other from boarding school days in Pakistan. Headley testified as a witness at Rana’s trial, claiming he used Rana’s immigration services business as a cover to scout targets in India.
Rana admitted to visiting Mumbai before the attacks and staying at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which became the focal point of the deadly siege. However, he denied any involvement in the conspiracy.
Pakistan to seek fresh bids for national airline, says adviser
- Pakistan has been looking to offload a 51-100% stake in debt-ridden PIA
- Attempt to privatize PIA last year fell flat when Pakistan got only one bid
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government will seek fresh expressions of interest for the sale of Pakistan International Airlines later this month, a government adviser said on Thursday, two days after PIA reported its first annual profit in over two decades.
Pakistan has been looking to offload a 51-100 percent stake in debt-ridden PIA, part of an effort to raise funds and reform cash-bleeding state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program.
However, Islamabad’s attempt to privatize PIA last year fell flat when it received only a single offer, well below the asking price of more than $300 million.
Pakistan has offloaded almost all of the national carrier’s legacy debt and shifted it to government books after bidders raised issues that had led to the failed attempt, according to the privatization ministry.
“In our last attempt to privatise PIA, pre-qualified bidders had some issues with taxation and the balance sheet. Those are taken care of now,” Muhammad Ali, government adviser on privatization, told Reuters. “We plan to publish the new Expression of Interest (EoI) by the last week of April 2025,” he said.
The government plans to complete the airline’s privatization before the end of this year.
“We are also revising the pre-qualification criteria,” he said, adding that the reference price could also be revised keeping in view the latest accounts and changes in the balance sheet.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last year announced plans to sell all SOEs.
The adviser said that the process to privatise power distribution companies had also started, terming it a “high priority transaction.”
He said some companies previously due to be sold in the second phase were being pushed into the first phase.
The adviser said the government had appointed Jones Lang LaSalle to advise on exploring different sales options for the PIA-owned Roosevelt hotel building in Manhattan, New York. They include selling the building as it is or opting for a joint venture with a top tier developer, which has the potential to generate proceeds five times higher, Ali said.
