ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) crossed the 90,000-point mark during intra-day trading on Friday, reaching an all-time high before settling just below the milestone, with analysts attributing the bullish trend to economic stabilization and political equilibrium.
The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 1,141 points, or 1.25 percent, to reach a record high of 90,087 points during the day. By the close of the session, however, it eased to 89,993.96 points, up by 1,047.98 points, or 1.16 percent, from the previous close.
Analysts say an equilibrium in politics, economic stability and reducing interest rates, both locally and globally, were ushering in liquidity into Pakistani equities.
“If Pakistan continues to stick to its razor-sharp focus on the economy, it may lead to a multi-year boom at the KSE100,” Raza Jafri, head of equities at the Karachi-based Intermarket Securities, told Arab News.
Topline Securities, a leading brokerage house in Pakistan, said the crossing of 90,000-mark by Pakistani stocks was one of the “fastest record gains of 125 percent in the last 18 months.”
The development comes as the South Asian nation’s economic indicators continue to improve after it secured a $7 billion, 37-month bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month. Pakistan’s central bank also cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 17.5 percent in September, making it the third straight reduction since June.
Last year, Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default when it clinched a $3 billion IMF loan program. The country has suffered a prolonged economic crisis that drained its foreign exchange reserves and saw its currency weaken amid double-digit inflation.
Pakistan Stock Exchange crosses 90,000 points, hits record high before closing below milestone
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Pakistan Stock Exchange crosses 90,000 points, hits record high before closing below milestone
- KSE-100 index climbed 1,141, or 1.25 percent, to reach an all-time high of 90,087 points
- Bullish trend fueled by ‘economic stabilization’ and ‘equilibrium in politics,’ analyst says
New PIA owner plans more GCC flights, lower airfares
- New management will focus on religious tourism to Makkah, Madinah and other sites to expand global reach
- Owner Arif Habib says airfares will be rationalized to make PIA flights affordable for low-income Pakistanis
KARACHI: Pakistan’s recently privatized national carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), plans to increase its flights to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as part of its post-privatization business strategy to achieve 7.5% annual revenue growth, its new owner said this week.
A Pakistani consortium, led by Arif Habib Group, clinched a 75% stake in PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million) on Dec. 23 after a competitive bidding process, in a deal that valued the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
The sale marked Pakistan’s most ambitious effort in decades to reform the debt-ridden airline that had accumulated over Rs784 billion ($2.8 billion) in losses. The government said it aimed to end decades of state-funded bailouts and support the airline’s revival.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Arif Habib, chairman of Arif Habib Group, shared that he aims to attract around 70 million Pakistanis, who travel annually via different airlines, by making airfares more affordable.
“That [GCC region] is our biggest market... We would definitely try to increase the frequency of flights, increase the number of planes there, and try to capture more market share in that area,” Habib told Arab News on Monday.
“So, there we see a lot of opportunity.”
The new management of PIA, which currently caters to 4 million passengers annually, aims to target religious tourism, which Habib called a “captive market” in Pakistan and the Middle East.
According to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the airline runs around 20 flights daily to the Middle East.
Habib plans to invest around Rs112 billion ($400 million) in PIA to turn the airline around, implementing short- and long-term improvements ranging from upgrading seats to tripling the 19-aircraft fleet, and engaging a foreign airline as a technical partner through strategic divestment over the next seven to eight years.
The group also intends to reduce PIA fares to make air travel more affordable for passengers from Pakistan’s low-income groups.
“Yes, we have been advised that in order to increase our market share, we will have to rationalize the airfares,” Habib said. “That is in the plan, and we will unfold it as it comes.”
The new owners have engaged a global advisory firm, Seabury Aviation Partners, to identify viable markets for the newly privatized airline and expand its presence both locally and internationally.
Habib aims for up to 7.5% annual growth in PIA’s operational revenues to make it profitable and the new management is targeting European and North American markets, particularly routes to and from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, for this purpose.
“The UK is the most lucrative market where I think there is a lot of demand,” he said, adding they would also be seeking more flight destinations. “Even for USA there is demand there.”
Habib, however, said the airline would take time to deliver “reasonable” returns to its investors, including AKD Group Holdings, Fatima Fertilizer Company, City Schools, Lake City Holdings and Fauji Fertilizer Company, a publicly listed firm owned by Pakistan’s military.
“In initial period of one to two years, we may see some losses but into medium term, I think, that would be turned around,” he concluded.
PIA posted a pre-tax profit of Rs11.5 billion ($41 million) for the January–June 2025 period, its first such profit for this timeframe in nearly two decades, according to a Reuters report in September. The airline recorded losses during the same period in 2024.
Once considered one of Asia’s leading carriers, PIA struggled with chronic mismanagement, political interference, overstaffing, mounting debt, and operational issues that led to a 2020 ban on flights to the European Union, the UK, and the US following a pilot licensing scandal. The EU and UK have since lifted their bans, giving the airline renewed momentum, while the US ban remains in place.
On Tuesday, PIA announced that the airline will be expanding its UK operations and will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London starting Mar. 29.
“The flights are being resumed after a long gap of six years,” PIA spokesman Khan said in a statement. “PIA is already operating three weekly flights to Manchester.”
