ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s workers’ remittances increased by 5.3 percent on a month-on-month basis in September, the central bank said on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia remaining the largest contributor.
Pakistani workers abroad sent remittances worth $2.1 billion during August, according to official figures by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) released last month. Saudi Arabia had been the largest contributor in that list as remittances received from the kingdom totaled $491.1 million in August.
“During Sep 2023, workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $2.2 billion, showing an increase of 5.3 percent compared to the previous month,” the SBP said on social media platform X.
Workers’ remittances from Saudi Arabia were clocked in at $538.16 million for September, the SBP said. Remittances from the UAE, UK and EU countries totaled $399.77 million, $311.06 million and $269.25 million respectively in September.
From other GCC countries, remittances sent by workers last month amounted to $248.11 million.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have deep cultural, defense and economic ties. The kingdom is home to over two million Pakistanis and for years has remained the largest contributor to remittance inflows.
Remittances play a major role in supporting Pakistan’s external account, especially at a time when the country is grappling with an economic crisis that has weakened its currency and caused its foreign exchange reserves to plummet.
PM Sharif vows to eliminate ‘terrorism’ after blast kills 7 Pakistan Army soldiers
Roadside blast in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday killed seven army soldiers, including captain
Pakistan Army says soldiers’ sacrifices reinforces resolve to eliminate “terrorism” from country
Updated 7 sec ago
Shahjahan Khurram
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday vowed to eliminate “terrorism” from the country a day after a roadside blast killed seven army soldiers, including a captain, in northwestern Pakistan.
The blast occurred as an improvised explosive device targeted a vehicle carrying the soldiers in Lakki Marwat district of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Sunday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing.
KP, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed several attacks on police, security forces and civilians amid a renewed wave of violence in recent months. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has claimed dozens of recent attacks.
“Deeply saddened by the martyrdom of Pak Army personnel including a captain in a targeted attack in Lakki Marwat District,” PM Sharif posted on his social media account X. “The sacrifices of our brave soldiers and citizens is a debt on us that we must repay by relentlessly eliminating terrorism from our nation.”
Deeply saddened by the martyrdom of Pak Army personnel including a Captain in a targeted attack in Lakki Marwat District. The sacrifices of our brave soldiers and citizens is a debt on us that we must repay by relentlessly eliminating terrorism from our nation.Heartfelt…
In a separate statement on Monday, the ISPR vowed that attacks on its soldiers would not deter its resolve to fight militancy in the country.
“Pakistan’s security forces are committed to eradicating the curse of terrorism and the sacrifices of our brave martyrs reinforce our resolve,” the army’s media wing said.
The Pakistani premier’s statement comes as the South Asian country witnesses a renewed surge in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
Last week, gunmen killed at least four policemen and a prayer leader, while three anti-polio vaccinators and two policemen were injured in separate incidents in KP, officials said.
Pakistan has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue that Islamabad must deal with itself.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s month-long pre-Hajj flight operation to transport around 70,105 pilgrims to the holy cities in Saudi Arabia will conclude today, Monday, state-run media reported as the annual Islamic pilgrimage draws closer.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, requiring every adult Muslim to undertake the pilgrimage to the holy Islamic sites in Makkah at least once in their lifetime if they are financially and physically able.
Pakistan kicked off a pre-Hajj flight operation on June 9 to transport pilgrims who are part of the government scheme to Saudi Arabia ahead of the pilgrimage. Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims this year, of which around 70,000 people will perform the pilgrimage under the government scheme while the rest will use private tour operators. This year’s pilgrimage is expected to run from June 14-19.
“A month-long Pre Hajj flight operation will conclude tomorrow,” Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
The state broadcaster said the flight operation would conclude with the arrival of the last flight at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on Monday.
“As per the schedule, the last flight through Saudi Airlines SV-3727 would leave Islamabad International Airport for Jeddah at 3:00 am carrying 380 passengers,” the state-run media said.
A 400-member dedicated Pakistan Hajj Medical Mission is also working around the clock to serve Pakistani pilgrims in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has established two hospitals and 11 dispensaries in the Saudi cities of Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah to provide health care to Hajj pilgrims.
A government official said earlier this month that out of Pakistan’s total quota of 179,210 pilgrims, around 160,000 pilgrims from the country are expected to perform the pilgrimage.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is resisting the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) diktat to increase tax on Pakistan’s salaries class and agricultural products in the upcoming federal budget, a government official confirmed recently, as the government prepares to release the annual document detailing Pakistan’s estimated revenues and expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year later this week.
Pakistan’s government is gearing up to present the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 on June 12. The development takes place as the South Asian country remains locked in negotiations with the IMF for a fresh financial bailout program that Islamabad considers necessary to avert a macroeconomic crisis. Pakistan’s economic crisis has seen its reserves drop to alarmingly low levels and its currency significantly weaken against the US dollar over the last two years.
Islamabad has taken painful measures demanded by the IMF since 2022, which include hiking fuel and energy prices in return for the financial institution’s help. These decisions caused prices of essential commodities to skyrocket in the country, with inflation surging to 38 percent in May 2023 before dropping to a 30-month low of 11.8 percent in May 2024.
“The prime minister is not ready to follow the IMF diktat to raise income tax on salaried class,” Rana Ihsan Afzal, the coordinator to the prime minister who is involved in the budget’s preparation process, told Arab News on Sunday.
“The IMF wants us to impose tax on agricultural products including tractors and even seeds but the prime minister has been resisting all this,” he said. Afzal added the government would initiate measures to ensure the agriculture and industrial sectors of the country flourish rather than impose additional taxes on them.
Afzal said the government would protect lifeline utilities consumers in the budget and increase the allocation for the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), a federal unconditional cash transfer poverty reduction scheme.
“We are going to offer incentives to the industry to boost our exports and create job opportunities for the youth,” he said.
About the IMF’s proposal to levy a tax on pensions, he said the government was looking into different options to deal with the situation. He said the prime minister was mostly not in favor of the decision.
“We will be announcing an increase in pensions and salaries in the budget,” Afzal vowed, saying that the government was trying to present a “people-friendly” budget.
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a major opposition party backed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s candidates, said the government was “clueless” about the budget, claiming it would present a document that has been prepared by the IMF for parliament’s approval.
“The government has not consulted opposition parties about the budget’s preparation but we knew that this was going to be a tough budget for the public,” Zartaj Gul Wazir, an SIC lawmaker, told Arab News.
“As the opposition we will not only present our budget proposals in parliament but also force the government to review its anti-public measures,” she said. Wazir lamented that the economy had nosedived and the government did not have a cogent plan to revive it.
Meanwhile, Afzal said the government would welcome the opposition’s budget proposals after it would table the finance bill in the National Assembly.
“The opposition will be able to debate on the financial plan and forward its proposals to the government before the budget is passed,” Afzal said, adding that the government had consulted all other stakeholders, including those from various industries, for the budget’s presentation.
Heartbreak in Pakistan after cricket World Cup loss to India
India loss follows Pakistan’s humiliating defeat against minnows United States in World Cup
Pakistan and India’s cricket rivalry is one of the world’s great international sporting feuds
Updated 10 June 2024
AFP
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan fans were dejected Monday after a loss to arch-rivals India compounded their cricket T20 World Cup misery, with some declaring their campaign a lost cause after only two matches.
“Cricket is finished for Pakistan,” one spectator told his companions in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, among fans who abandoned a big-screen viewing event before the final ball was bowled.
As night fell on Sunday, crowds had surged into the 15,000-seat Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hoping to see a victory for captain Babar Azam’s beleaguered side in a match halfway around the globe in New York.
However a low-scoring thriller saw India beat Pakistan by six runs on a tricky batting surface, and in the moments after midnight supporters hurled plastic bottles at the screens in frustration.
“Fate had something else in mind,” 26-year-old Ahsan Ullah told AFP, as resigned fans streamed out of the stadium. “Right now our hearts are a little broken.”
The loss follows the major humiliation of Pakistan’s defeat to USA on Thursday, with the co-host debutants beating the 2022 finalists and 2009 champions in a Super Over thriller in Texas.
Pakistan and India’s cricket rivalry is one of the world’s great international sporting feuds.
The game is by far the most popular sport in both countries, which have a combined population of more than 1.6 billion.
Matches attract staggering numbers of viewers — though the sides face each other only in larger tournaments and in third countries because of long-standing political tensions.
Sunday’s match was the 13th time the nuclear-armed neighbors have clashed in cricket’s shortest format, with India now dominant as the victors of ten of those face-offs.
The rivalry runs so deep that India’s national anthem was muted on the big screens at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where queues snaked outside ahead of a rain-delayed coin toss.
Green spotlights raked the skies as the match began and Pakistan flags whipped back and forth in stands named after storied players like Imran Khan and Shoaib Akhtar.
Whistles, chants and cheers blared in the early overs, before midnight passed and a sober mood took hold as Pakistan struggled to chase down India’s 119 runs.
Asked for his diagnosis of the team’s ills, Mohammad Hisham Raja — seeking solace at a nearby restaurant after the match — responded with one word: “batting.”
“Maybe we got too much in our heads,” the 24-year-old said. “It’s not an embarrassment because we’re used to it now.”
“Cricket is an escape for us — from our daily routine, from our daily lives, from things that cause us problems,” he added. “But there are more problems in this.”
“I think once they come back they’ll see how dissatisfied the population is, so they will obviously make some big changes,” he added, predicting Azam would be ousted from his post.
“Pakistan choked in the final sequence of their World Cup 2024 clash with India to somehow surrender a tie they dominated for large parts of the game,” said the website of the English-language Dawn newspaper.
“For the first time, it seems Pakistanis are struggling to find comfort in the hopes of a ‘next time’.”
Pakistan next face Canada in New York on Thursday and then take on Ireland in Florida on Sunday.
They may still advance to the Super Eight in the tournament co-hosted by the USA and West Indies, with a final slated for Barbados on 29 June.
But 32 year-old Abdul Rasheed, among the final straggling fans in the stadium, predicted “a comeback is going to be very difficult.”
“Previously, things were great but now I don’t know what’s going on,” chimed in 17-year-old Adan Mustafa. “The future doesn’t seem bright.”
Pakistan’s impoverished Balochistan province reports six cases of highly contagious Congo virus
Congo fever is viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals
Provincial government has launched fumigation drive, released funds to purchase platelets kits for patients
Updated 09 June 2024
Nadeem Khan
QUETTA: Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province has reported six cases of the Congo virus, or Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), this year, health officials said on Sunday, warning the number could go up ahead of Eid Al-Adha.
The Congo virus is a highly contagious disease transmitted by ticks and contact with infected animals. Outbreaks require swift action to prevent further spread. It leads to severe symptoms and can be fatal if not treated promptly, particularly in endemic regions such as parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Officials at Fatima Jinnah Chest Hospital in Quetta, the only facility that treats Congo virus patients in Balochistan, said three of the six Congo virus patients were women, who had been discharged after treatment, while three men were still admitted to the hospital’s isolation ward.
“Six people have tested positive for the Congo virus in Balochistan so far this year,” Kausar Shahen, a staff nurse attending these patients, told Arab News, adding that all the six cases were reported in the month of June.
“The number of cases can go up before Eid Al-Adha,” she added.
A board displaying precautionary measures against the spread of the Congo virus is seen at Fatima Jinnah Chest Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, on June 9, 2024. (AN photo by Nadeem Khan)
Qudratullah, a 22-year-old dairy farmer from Killa Abdullah district, tested positive for the virus this week.
“A week ago, I started suffering high fever and body pain,” he said. “I took tablets but it did not work, then I was shifted to Quetta [in Fatima Jinnah Chest Hospital] and here they told me I was Congo virus-positive.”
Qudratullah’s white blood cells had decreased to 63,000 as opposed to 150,000 required for a normal person, but he was in a much better condition after undergoing treatment at the hospital, according to medics.
In 2023, a total of 54 people had tested positive for the Congo virus, according to official figures. Of them, 18 people, including a doctor and a paramedic, lost their lives to the deadly virus.
Congo virus cases are usually reported in Balochistan during the summer months of June, July and August, according to health experts. The chances of its spread increase particularly around Eid Al-Adha, when people buy and slaughter a large number of animals to commemorate the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim.
“We lost Dr. Shukrullah Langove while he was being shifted to Karachi last year,” said Dr. Dawood Baloch, a representative of the Young Doctors Association. “If we had a single ICU [in the province], his life could have been saved.”
He suggested fumigation as an effective way to combat the virus spread and imposing strict precautionary measures at slaughter houses.
The Balochistan government says it has been taking measures to prevent the spread of the virus ahead of Eid.
“Our livestock department has started spray campaigns, regional blood bank is providing blood, and the government has released funds to purchase platelet kits for patients,” Shahid Rind, a provincial government spokesperson, told Arab News.
