KARACHI: Pakistan’s BankIslami corroborated on Monday that it came under a cyberattack – reportedly the biggest in the nation’s history – which may have involved $6 million worth of online transactions that were recorded in different countries over the weekend.
In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the bank said: “On the morning of October 27, 2018, certain abnormal transactions valuing Rs 2.6 million were detected by the bank on one of its international payment card schemes. The bank immediately took precautionary steps which, inter alia, included shutting its international payment scheme. All monies withdrawn from accounts, i.e. Rs 2.6 million, have been credited in the respective accounts.”
The statement added: “The transaction of approximately $6 million as claimed by the international payment scheme are not acknowledged by the bank as the bank was actually logged off from the international system.”
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued directives to all banks to safeguard all payment cards in the country and monitor their real-time usage, especially for overseas transactions.
“Security measures on all IT systems including those related to card operations are continuously updated to meet any challenges in future. Resources are deployed to ensure the 24/7 real time monitoring of card operations-related systems and transactions,” the SBP said in its statement.
Despite the cyberheist, the share prices of the bank closed in green gaining value by 0.06 percent at Rs 13.85 as the investors refused to give weight to the incident.
“The market participants did not give importance to the incident may be because the bank has not incurred significant loss,” Ahsan Mehanti, senior analyst and Chief Executive of Arif Habib Group, told Arab News.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed another bullish day, gaining an additional 897 points to close at 41453.76 level.
“Bullish activity continued at PSX on speculation ahead of PM [Imran Khan’s] visit to China and $1 billion likely financial assistance from the UAE to resolve external account imbalances. Institutional interest in oversold scrips in oil, banking and cement sector played a catalyst role in bullish close,” Mehanti commented.
“With this rise, total recovery from recent lows is 4,790 points against recent lows at 36,663 points recorded on October 16,” Khurram Schehzad, senior analyst and Chief Commercial Officer at JS Global Capital, said.
In terms of value, market capitalization recovered by about 12 percent or about $6.6 billion to $62 billion, while the market traded value crossed $100 million a day in the past few days, too.
“Traded Volumes at the PSX crossed 460 million shares which is a 15-month high, last seen in May 2017, when we were close to the MSCI EM upgrade. Market traded value also stood close to $120 million”, Schehzad said.
The sluggish share market experienced a rebound following the recent promise by Saudi Arabia to lend $6 billion to Pakistan to support the country in stabilizing its external payment imbalances.
On Monday, the stock market was abuzz with reports of additional support from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Malaysia, with investors expecting further financial assistance during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to China on November 3.
BankIslami confirms it's a victim of $6mn cyberheist
BankIslami confirms it's a victim of $6mn cyberheist
- Pakistan share market closes bullish amid reports of additional foreign financial aid
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Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
