Eid ul Adha: Banks to remain closed for four days

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced Wednesday that the central bank would remain closed from June 29-30 on account of Eid ul Adha.

As a result, all commercial banks across the country will also remain closed for four days — Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The federal government had a day earlier approved a three-day holiday on account of Eid ul Adha.

In a statement, the Cabinet Division said: “[…] it is for general information that the Prime Minister is pleased to approve the public holidays on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha as follows:

June 29 to 30, 2023 (Thursday and Friday) for the offices observing five days working in a week; and
June 29 to July 1, 2023 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) for the offices observing 6 days working in a week.”

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee sighted the Zil Hajj moon in Pakistan on Monday, meaning that Eid ul Adha will be celebrated across the country on June 29 (Thursday).

The decision was announced after the moon sighting committee met under the chairmanship of Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad.

The testimonies of moon sightings were received from various cities including Karachi, Lahore and others, the Ruet-e-Hilal committee chairman said.

E&P Companies Will Invest $5 Billion in Pakistan’s Petroleum Industry

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Over the next three years, local and foreign companies involved in Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration and production sector have shown a strong desire to invest more than $5 billion in the nation’s energy sector.

Recent changes to the Petroleum Policy and the implementation of an exclusive tight gas policy, which provide better incentives and a more investor-friendly regulatory framework, are credited with the increase in investor confidence.

These strategic changes are expected to boost domestic energy production, open up new avenues for growth, and draw large amounts of both domestic and foreign investment.

Business

With inflation slowing, the SBP is anticipated to lower the policy rate for the eighth time in a row.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Businesspeople anticipate another reduction in the policy rate when the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) releases the updated rate.

The interest rate for the upcoming two months will be announced by the central bank. It is still unclear if the rate will stay the same or be lowered to reflect stakeholder expectations.

According to experts, the policy rate will be lowered in order to further boost the nation’s economic sector.

Interest rates may be lowered for the seventh time in a row if the inflation rate declines significantly more than anticipated.

In its last six sessions, the MPC had cut the policy rate by 10 percent. In January 2025, it decreased the rate by one percent to 12pc.

12PC POLICY RATE

In January, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced cut in key policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 12 percent from 13pc in line with expectations of the business community.

The policy rate, which had been at 22 percent since June 2024, was slashed by 1,000 basis points to 12 percent.

The SBP governor said the decision was taken with careful consideration. “Although inflation is expected to decline next month (February), core inflation remains a pressing concern,” he stated.

Ahmed highlighted strong remittance inflows and robust export growth as key factors supporting the current account.