ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan on Thursday discussed advancement of key infrastructure and economic projects under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Pakistani government said, with the two sides also discussing security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.
CPEC, a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea through a network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports in Pakistan and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.
The discussions on key CPEC projects were held during Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong’s meeting with Pakistani Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, according to Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID).
On the occasion, the Pakistani planning minister emphasized the need for concrete mechanisms to ensure smooth and effective implementation of bilateral projects.
“Both sides deliberated on advancing key projects, including the Karachi-Hyderabad section of Main Line-1 (ML-1) and Karakoram Highway (Thakot-Raikot Section) project, and agreed to accelerate the projects’ timely execution,” the PID said in a statement.
“Regarding the Gwadar Port and Free Zone, both sides expressed a mutual commitment to ensuring the continued development of Gwadar in a holistic manner.”
The meeting came two days after a security guard at a factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi shot and injured two Chinese nationals before fleeing, police said.
Last month, two Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide bombing near the international airport in Karachi. In March this year, a suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in northwestern Pakistan as they headed to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in the country. In 2022, three Chinese educators and their Pakistani driver were killed when an explosion ripped through a van at the University of Karachi. A blast on a bus killed 13 people in north Pakistan in 2021, including nine Chinese nationals.
China, breaking with tradition, publicly spoken out against security threats to its workers and nationals living in Pakistan, where hundreds of them work on Beijing-funded projects linked to CPEC.
Iqbal assured the Chinese ambassador the safety of Chinese citizens was a top priority of his government.
“Pakistan will continue working closely with China to ensure the security of Chinese citizens, projects, and institutions,” he was quoted as saying by the PID.
Ambassador Jiang expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s comprehensive engagement and said the Chinese side was ready for collaboration in areas of agriculture, mines and minerals, industrial cooperation, according to the PID.
Iqbal shared that his ministry was in coordination with the National Development and Reform Commission of China to arrange high-level workshops to bring together experts from both sides to outline the future direction of CPEC’s second phase.
China has lately shown willingness for the second phase of CPEC and has given assurances for the establishment of five new corridors, including that of growth, livelihood, innovation, green economy and open regional inclusive development.
China, Pakistan discuss advancement of rail, road and economic zone projects under CPEC
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China, Pakistan discuss advancement of rail, road and economic zone projects under CPEC
- The discussions included sections of Main Line-1 railway project, Karakoram Highway as well as Gwadar port and economic zone
- Beijing has invested over $65 billion in energy, infrastructure and other projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Pakistan stock market cruises past 103,000 points on upbeat inflation data
- Pakistan’s statistics bureau said on Monday annual consumer inflation in Pakistan had slowed to 4.9% in November
- Strong economic data and surging foreign exchange reserves played catalyst role in bullish activity, analyst says
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday set a new record as it cruised past 103,000 points during the intraday trading, stock analysts said.
The benchmark KSE-100 index was at 103,036 points at around 250pm on Monday, recording a 1.66 percent gain from Friday’s close of 101,357 points.
The development came as Pakistan’s statistics bureau said annual consumer inflation had slowed to 4.9 percent in November, lower than the government’s forecast, largely due to a high base a year earlier.
Analysts said the stocks showed record bullish activity amid upbeat data on CPI inflation, which was likely to ease the central bank policy.
“Strong economic data and surging foreign exchange reserves [$11,418.5 million in week ending on Nov. 22] played a catalyst role in bullish activity at the PSX,” Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer (CEO) of Arif Habib Corporation, told Arab News.
Consumer inflation cooled from 7.2 percent in October, a sharp drop from a multi-decade high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023. The PSX breached the 100,000-mark for the first time on Thursday to close at 100,082 points. The South Asian country slashed interest rates by 250 basis points earlier in November to help revive a sluggish economy amid a big drop in the rate of inflation.
The market rally is also attributable to Pakistan’s new $7 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that has bolstered investor confidence, according to some analysts. The IMF’s disbursement of the first tranche of approximately $1 billion in September, along with fiscal and monetary reforms, improved the sentiment.
But Muhammad Ali Khan, an investment banker and analyst, downplayed the IMF factor and pointed to low interest rates and correction in the market, which had been undervalued for years, as the main reasons behind the bullish trend.
“The stock market had come down to very low valuations, especially in the region, the interest rate is going down and a lot of cash was sitting on the sidelines before this rally,” he told Arab News.
Khan was skeptical of the market performance in the long run, though he expected the market to go up to 110,000 points in the coming days before undergoing another correction.
“This is a speculative market at this point in my view, given that large-scale manufacturing, exports and all other major indicators are crippling,” he said.
“We came off the ventilator. That doesn’t mean we are healthy. IMF saved us, IMF did not solve anything for us.”
Pakistan says 7 of 34 MoUs recently signed with Riyadh actualized into deals worth $560 million
- 34 MoUs worth $2.8 billion were signed between Pakistani and Saudi business in October
- Pakistan has pushed in recent weeks to strengthen trade, investment ties with friendly nations
ISLAMABAD: Seven out of 34 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with Saudi Arabia earlier this year have been actualized into agreements worth $560 million, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Monday.
The announcement came after Sharif was briefed on progress made on 34 MoUs worth $2.8 billion signed between Pakistani and Saudi business in October. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a significant trade relationship, with Pakistan exporting mainly agricultural products and Saudi Arabia exporting mainly petroleum products.
“In a short period of time, 34 investment memorandums of understanding were signed between the two countries, out of which 7 have been given the form of agreements worth $560 million,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after he chaired a meeting to review progress on investment between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the progress of various ongoing projects between the two countries,” the statement added, as the PM was briefed on discussions held at the second meeting of the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Task Force in November and informed about cooperation in various sectors.
Pakistan has pushed in recent months to strengthen trade and investment ties with friendly nations, particularly the Kingdom, which has promised a $5 billion investment package that cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up foreign reserves and fight a chronic balance of payment crisis.
Pakistanis are the second-largest expatriate community in the Kingdom, with over 2.5 million living and working in Saudi Arabia, the top source of remittances for the South Asian nation.
Pakistan November consumer inflation slows to 4.9% year on year
- The finance ministry projected inflation would slow to 5.8%-6.8% in November and ease to 5.6%-6.5% in December
- The South Asian country last month slashed interest rates by 250 basis points to help revive a sluggish economy
KARACHI: Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation slowed to 4.9% in November largely due to a high base a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on Monday, lower than the government’s forecast.
The finance ministry had projected inflation would slow to 5.8%-6.8% in November and ease to 5.6%-6.5% in December, it said in its monthly economic report published last week.
The South Asian country slashed interest rates by 250 basis points earlier in November to help revive a sluggish economy amid a big drop in the rate of inflation.
Consumer inflation cooled from 7.2% in October, a sharp drop from a multi-decade high of nearly 40% in May 2023.
Consumer prices in November rose +0.5% from October, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Ex-PM Khan booked in six new cases relating to Islamabad protests — party
- The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed three paramilitary soldiers and a policeman
- Khan’s party has held several protests this year to demand his release from prison and to challenge Feb. 8 poll results
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan has been booked in six new cases relating to last week’s protests in Islamabad, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said on Monday, adding to legal woes of the incarcerated premier.
Khan’s PTI led supporters to Islamabad from Peshawar and other cities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on November 24, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from prison.
The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed three paramilitary soldiers and a police officer, and injured hundreds of others. The PTI has named 12 people who it says were killed during the crackdown.
On Monday, the PTI said the Rawalpindi police sought physical remand of the former premier in cases relating to last week’s protests, but a court ordered his judicial custody till the moving of bail applications in all the cases.
“Imran Khan’s counsels Barrister Salman Safdar, Salman Akram Raja, Usman Riaz Gill and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, along with his family members, will meet him today,” the PTI said in a statement.
Separately, PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was brought from Lahore to Adiyala jail in Rawalpindi to be presented before a judge in a case relating to violent protests in the country by PTI supporters on May 9, 2023, according to Khan’s party.
“After being handed over to jail authorities, we are hopeful his meetings with his legal team and party leaders will resume accordingly,” it added.
Both Khan and Qureshi have been in jail since August last year and entangled in a slew of legal cases, which they say were politically motivated to keep the party out of power.
The PTI party has staged several protests this year to demand the release of Khan and to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to favor its opponents. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last week’s protests were by far the largest to grip the capital since the poll and the Pakistani government said they caused Rs192 billion per day indirect losses to the economy.
Authorities broker second ceasefire between warring sects tribes in Pakistan’s northwest
- The violence in Kurram district erupted after gunmen attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying mostly Shiites, killing 52 people on Nov.21
- Some Shiites, after burying the victims, launched attacks on Sunni Muslims and clashes ensued, killing 78 people and wounding 200 others
PESHAWAR: Pakistani authorities with help from community leaders brokered a second ceasefire between warring minority Shiites and Sunni Muslims in a troubled northwestern region bordering Afghanistan following a deadly sectarian violence that left dozens of people dead, officials said Monday.
The violence in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, erupted after gunmen attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying mostly Shiites, killing 52 people on Nov.21. Though nobody claimed the assault, some Shiites, after burying the victims, launched attacks on Sunni Muslims and clashes ensued, killing 78 people and wounding 200 others.
A ceasefire was reached on Nov. 24, but didn’t last long before violence flared up again. This time, authorities are hopeful it will hold.
Javed Ullah Mehsud, the deputy commissioner of Kurram, said tribal leaders helped negotiate the respite Sunday night and that police have been deployed to ensure peace in the area.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Shiites dominate parts of the Kurram district. Though Shiites and Sunnis generally live in peace there, land disputes have led to sectarian violence in recent months.
