Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund formally opened negotiations in Islamabad this week for the fourth review of the country’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and the third review of its $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility, with successful completion of both potentially unlocking around $1.2 billion in combined fresh financing. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb...
The standoff between the federal government and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government widened sharply this week, with Islamabad threatening to impose governor’s rule in the province if Chief Minister Sohail Afridi does not abandon PTI’s planned October 4 march, while Afridi has responded with defiance rather than retreat. Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said governor’s...
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has shelved, for now, its plan to march on Islamabad over the petroleum levy, but the party is making clear that the pause is tactical rather than final. With Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expected back in the country soon, JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has said a long march remains on the table...
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has claimed to have arrested more than 70 people in raids on two call centres in Karachi’s PECHS area, alleging that the operations were used to defraud American citizens through fake offers for new credit cards and low-interest financial services. According to an NCCIA spokesperson, the raids were...
American and Iranian negotiators meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York are exploring a phased arrangement that would see Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Washington lifting its economic blockade of Iran, according to sources familiar with the talks, in what would mark a significant step...
The federal government has approved the deployment of Pakistan Rangers across Islamabad Capital Territory and several Punjab districts ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s planned march on the federal capital scheduled for September 27, as security preparations in the twin cities intensify into one of the largest law-enforcement mobilisations the region has seen in recent years. The...
An International Monetary Fund mission has begun a fresh round of review talks with Pakistani authorities in Islamabad, opening a roughly two-week assessment of the country’s progress under its $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility, even as officials head into the negotiations carrying a familiar mix of missed targets...
With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s planned long march to Islamabad now just three days away, the federal government has delivered its clearest message yet to the party: the protest will not be permitted in the capital, come what may. Sources say the message has been conveyed to PTI leadership, even as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi,...
Pakistan carried out precision aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan in the early hours of Thursday, in what officials described as a direct response to drone incursions launched from Afghan territory a day earlier. The strikes mark a sharp escalation in an already volatile relationship between the two neighbours, pushing the confrontation...
Professor Muhammad Arif Saqi, a senior faculty member at the University of Karachi who was assaulted earlier this month following a minor road accident near Safoora Chowrangi, has pardoned the prime suspect in the case, Konain Shah, after the suspect visited his home and personally apologised. Confirming the out-of-court settlement to Dawn, Prof Saqi said...