– A leading billionaire Arif Habib has pledged a Rs125 billion investment to resuscitate and upgrade Pakistan foreign Airlines (PIA), unveiling an ambitious plan to expand the national carrier’s fleet, re-establish foreign operations and make it into a competitive airline.

Addressing a function in Karachi, Habib said the investment is aimed at transforming PIA into a model national carrier that can compete in the regional and worldwide markets.

He said he reassured Chief of Army Staff and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the airline will be restored to its previous status with consistent investment and professional management.

Flights in the US expected to resume

Habib expressed hope that the PIA flights to the United States would be resumed later this year after the completion of the relevant regulatory and operational processes.

He also claimed that no employee of the PIA would be laid off during the first year of the transaction under the sale and purchase agreement of the government.

Plan for fleet growth

The billionaire blamed the PIA’s demise on years of underinvestment, administrative inefficiencies and poor management, which he said had hit the airline’s foreign network hard.

He also announced plans to induct five additional aircraft every year in the coming years with an aim to increase the number of operational aircraft to 60 during the next five years.

Habib said PIA currently has 18 active aircraft in operation, with another four to five aircraft in the existing fleet to be restored and put back in service.

Share repurchase

Habib added that payment for 66.66 percent of the airline’s shares had also been paid under the government’s Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA).

He said the remaining 33 percent of the shares would be paid in one year, according to the provisions of the deal.

The investment plan is anticipated to be focused on fleet modernisation, operating efficiency and the expansion of PIA’s international footprint as part of the wider efforts to enhance the country’s national airline.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its bullish momentum on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high for the first time, supported by strong purchasing across the board on the back of robust investor confidence.

The KSE-100 Index reached a record peak of 187,454.62 points, gaining 2,082 points and exceeding the 187,000-point mark for the first time in the exchange’s history.

The rally was a sign of continued optimism among investors at the start of the business week, with purchasing demand evident in several industries.

Shares of 564 listed firms were traded during the session. Out of them, the share prices of 296 firms rose and 182 companies fell. Other stocks were mostly unchanged.

The record close follows a series of milestones for Pakistan’s equity market, which has seen robust performance in recent months, driven by rising investor optimism and sustained interest in blue-chip firms.

Market analysts said the latest surge reflects confidence in the country’s economic outlook, but the future direction of the market will still depend on macroeconomic developments, business results, monetary policy expectations and broader investor sentiment.

Oil prices rose slightly on Tuesday, but gains were limited as traders ignored lessening geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and focused instead on supply increases and demand predictions.

Brent crude futures were up 38 cents, or 0.5%, at $72.37 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude increased 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $68.85 a barrel as of 0350 GMT, having closed Monday at about pre-Iran conflict levels.The moves toward recovery in supply have softened the immediate risk premium but the market remains hesitant of putting too much faith in the stability of the present truce given the on again off again nature of U.S.-Iran ties,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.We will be looking for early evidence of ​demand response, notably from China. “The market has priced in a lot of the good news on the supply side, so the next leg in oil ​prices will depend on whether the physical reality meets the optimistic headlines.

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States would either strike a deal with Iran or “finish the job,” reiterating his threat of military action as Tehran projected defiance after the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Investors have been monitoring the health of ships via the Strait of Hormuz as they keep an eye on the progress of U.S.-Iran talks and the resurgence of Gulf oil exports.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched at least two missiles at commercial ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, Axios said, citing two U.S. sources. The report indicated the commercial ships were badly damaged but there were no casualties.

Japanese-owned supertankers carrying Saudi Arabian crude headed on Tuesday to the Strait of Hormuz to leave the Gulf, shipping data revealed, joining a fleet of previously stranded vessels that escaped a day earlier.

Oil flow recovery is proving slower than predicted, ANZ analysts said in a report, despite the recent rise in strait activity.The first rebound in tanker transits across the Strait of Hormuz has stumbled, with vessel crossings continuing in single digits and no steady improvement in sight, they claimed.”The interim U.S.-Iran deal has diminished near-term geopolitical risks but shipping operators are still wary and curtail how quickly crude exports can return ​to normal levels.”

Meanwhile crude output from the United Arab Emirates topped more than 3.8 million barrels per day in June, its highest since April 2020 and beyond pre-Iran war levels, after it exited OPEC+ production limitations in May, according to Reuters estimates.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia agreed Sunday to raise output objectives by an additional 188,000 barrels per day from August, on top of comparable increases for June and July.

Saudi Arabia lowered the August official selling price (OSP) for its Arab Light crude to Asia by $1.50 a barrel below the Oman/Dubai average, a $11 fall from the previous month and the greatest cut in more than two decades, according to a Saudi Aramco pricing announcement on Monday.