Business

Pakistan has set up a high-level committee to monitor petroleum prices and supply conditions as increasing tensions in the Middle East raise concerns over global oil markets, the finance ministry said on Monday.  

Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd (FFC), one of Pakistan’s largest fertiliser companies, has officially expressed interest in acquiring a stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as the government resumes efforts to privatise the struggling national carrier. 

Business confidence in Pakistan ticked higher in May, driven by a more optimistic outlook in the industrial sector, while sentiment in the services sector softened slightly, a joint survey by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) revealed. 

Pakistan’s solar industry urged the government to drop a proposed 18 per cent general sales tax (GST) on imported solar panels, warning the move could stall the country’s shift to renewable energy and increase costs for households and businesses. 

Pakistan’s federal government is expected to miss its petroleum levy (PL) target for the current fiscal year, as rising global oil prices—driven by geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran—threaten to push domestic fuel prices higher and dampen consumption.  

Pakistan’s tax authority has seized its first immovable assets under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 2017, as part of an intensified campaign to uncover untaxed wealth and improve documentation of the economy.  

Pakistan plans to raise the threshold for applying a higher rate of withholding tax on cash withdrawals by non-filers, as part of adjustments to the Finance Bill 2025-26.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Friday that the World Bank Group has approved a $700 million loan for the Reko Diq mining project. India opposed the loan and tried to block the investment. But the World Bank rejected India’s objections and cleared the package. Aurangzeb shared this update during a Senate committee meeting on

Pakistan’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at 12 per cent when it meets on Monday, as geopolitical uncertainty and renewed inflation concerns cloud the outlook, according to a snap poll of analysts. 

Pakistan’s oil and gas regulator has slightly lowered the prices of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) for June, citing a modest drop in terminal handling charges.