Pakistan to launch online property transfer facility for overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, UAE

People commute on a road in Islamabad on July 11, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 05 July 2024
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Pakistan to launch online property transfer facility for overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, UAE

  • Pakistanis living abroad remit billions of dollars back home annually, supporting Pakistan’s external account
  • Chaudhry Salik Hussain says the facility will help resolve property transfer complaints within a period of 20 days

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain has said that overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries would soon have access to an online facility for the transfer of property in Pakistan, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
Pakistanis living abroad remit billions of dollars back home annually, which 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.
Hussain said the online property transfer facility would initially be made available for Pakistani expatriates residing in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Property transfer complaints would be resolved within 20 days,” the minister was quoted as saying by the broadcaster. “Problems with the power of attorney would also be resolved soon.”
Pakistani expatriates sent a total of $3.2 billion in May that recorded an increase of 15.3 percent on a month-on-month basis and by 54.2 percent on a year-on-year basis, according to figures shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have consistently remained top contributors of foreign remittances to the South Asian country and accounted for more than $1.5 billion in May.
Cash-strapped Pakistan is currently looking to clinch a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more than $6 billion bailout this month after addressing all of the lender’s requirements in its annual budget, its junior finance minister said this week.
The South Asian country has set challenging revenue targets in the budget to win approval from the IMF for a loan to stave off another economic meltdown, more than a year after averting a sovereign default.


Pakistani stocks breach 176,000 points barrier as investors expect further rate cuts

Updated 01 January 2026
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Pakistani stocks breach 176,000 points barrier as investors expect further rate cuts

  • Pakistani financial analyst attributes surge to falling inflation, investors expecting further policy rate cuts
  • Pakistan’s finance ministry said Thursday that inflation had slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December 

KARACHI: Pakistani stocks continued their bullish run on Thursday, breaching the 176,000 points barrier for the first time after trading ended, with analysts attributing the surge to investors expecting further cuts in the policy rate. 

The KSE-100 benchmark gained 2,301.17 points at close of business on Thursday, marking an increase of 1.32 percent to settle at 176,355.49 points. 

Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent last ‌month, breaking a four-meeting ‌hold in a move ‌that ⁠surprised ​markets. Pakistan’s consumer price inflation slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December, while prices fell on a monthly basis as per data from the finance ministry. 

“Upbeat data for consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 5.6pc in December 2025 [with] investors expecting a further State Bank of Pakistan rate cuts on falling inflation data,” Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities Ltd., told Arab News. 

The stock market witnessed a trading volume of 1,402.650 million shares, with a traded value of Rs48.424 billion ($173 million), compared with 957.239 million shares valued at Rs44.231 billion ($158 million) during the previous session.

Topline Securities, a leading brokerage firm in Pakistan, credited the surge to strong buying at the first session.

“This positivity can be accredited to buying by local institutions on the start of the new calendar year,” it said. 

Pakistan’s Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad highlighted that the bullish trend at the stock market reflected “strong investor confidence.”

“With lower inflation, affordable fuel, stronger reserves, rising digitization and a buoyant capital market, Pakistan’s economic outlook is clearly improving--supporting greater confidence, better investment sentiment and more positive momentum for 2026,” he said on social media platform X.