Pakistan’s benchmark share index touched a lifetime high on Wednesday, breaching the key level of 75,000, on hopes that easing inflation could pave the way for interest rate cuts as early as June.

Still attractive stock valuations, expectations of more foreign inflows, and the start of talks with the IMF on a new loan program added to the bullish sentiment.

The index was trading at 75,013 points at 0531 GMT, up 0.7 percent, after hitting an intraday high of 75,115. It has surged 80 percent over the past year, and it is up 16.1 percent year-to-date after an IMF rescue last summer helped the government avert a debt default.

On Monday, the index closed at a record of 73,822, up 1 percent.

Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, said Wednesday’s gains were fueled by foreign fund buying.

On Tuesday, the MSCI index added a Pakistani bank, National Bank of Pakistan, to the MSCI frontier market index. Its shares rose 1.6 percent on Wednesday, outperforming the benchmark index.

“We estimate Pakistan’s weight will also increase, thereby having the potential to attract more passive foreign funds,” said Sohail.

The market is picking up steam due to an anticipated decline in inflation to 13.5 percent for May and expectations of a monetary easing cycle starting in June, said Shahid Habib, CEO of Arif Habib Limited.

Investors were also optimism about discussions on a new International Monetary Fund financing program and the economic roadmap ahead, Habib said.

Pakistan last month completed a short-term, $3 billion IMF program, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term program.

An IMF mission is in Pakistan to discuss the financial year 2025 budget, policies, and reforms under a potential new program.

Wall Street bank Citi expects Pakistan to reach a four-year agreement with the IMF worth up to $8 billion by end-July, and recommends going long on the country’s 2027 international bond.

KARACHI: Kavita Solanki had worked for years as a marketing executive when the young Hindu woman decided last October to quit her job and set up a food cart selling two beloved Indian street foods in the Cantonment Area of Pakistan’s financial capital of Karachi. 

Though Karachi is considered the South Asian nation’s culinary hub, and all kinds of foods and cuisines can be found at its thousands of restaurants and street stalls, it was not easy to find wada pao and pav bhaji.

Wada pao comprises a deep fried potato dumpling and chutneys placed inside a bread bun sliced almost in half through the middle. Pav bhaji is a thick spicy vegetable curry served with a soft buttered bread roll. Both dishes originated in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

“I used to search on Google about where I can get pav bhaji and wada pao,” Solanki said as she handed a plate of food to a customer at her stall which has come to be called “Kavita Didi Ka Indian Khana,” or Sister Kavita’s Indian Food, or simply, Kavita Didi's Cart.  

“So, I thought that the thing which is very difficult to find in the city, why not start with that.”

The stall started attracting large crowds within a short span of time after opening, Solanki said. 

“If you say, okay, let's have nihari today, you know you will go to Zahid Nihari,” she said, naming one of the most famous restaurants in Karachi that offers the slow-cooked beef stew dish. “For vegetarian options, people will recommend Kavita Didi, that okay, let's go to Kavita Didi's stall.”

Solanki said people were attracted to her stall not just because wada pao and pav bhaji were difficult to find elsewhere in the city but also due to the authenticity and taste of the food.

“We are giving proper homemade stuff, nothing artificial,” she said. "What we eat at home is what we are bringing here.”

Solanki, who has never been to India and is ethnically Gujrati, said she learnt to make pav bhaji and wada pao from YouTube videos:

“Once we tried it at home, we liked it. So, like every weekend at home, we would be making this for ourselves.”

The stall is also popular for those seeking vegetarian alternatives and a change of taste from meat-based dishes. And her customers include people from all faiths, the entrepreneur said. 

“These are some unique dishes that they offer and it's very clean and very yummy and very nice,” pharmacist Maha Ahmed, a loyal customer, told Arab News.

Sikandar Ali, who works at a private firm, said he was drawn to Solanki's stall after seeing videos on YouTube.

“I had a strong desire to come to Didi's place and taste wada pao. So today, I decided that I would come and have wada pao,” said Ali, who grew up hearing about the street food from his mother, who migrated to Pakistan from India.

“I must say, it tastes absolutely amazing. I had a huge desire to go to India and have wada pao. That same taste I have found in Pakistan, in Karachi.”