Page 16 - Pakistan Government

IMF lowers Pakistan's economic growth forecast to 2% for FY2024: Report

The IMF's growth forecast is significantly lower than the Pakistan government's 3.5 per cent GDP growth target for current year

Pakistan to issue new currency notes to combat counterfeit currencies

Pakistan's central bank has announced that it will introduce new currency notes with enhanced security features to deal with the menace of counterfeit currencies in the cash-strapped country. The Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed told the media here that the currency notes will be incorporated with advanced international security features, including distinct security numbers and design to modernise the Pakistani currency. Ahmed also said the transition would be gradual so that Pakistan does not face disruption and public panic problems as has been witnessed in some other countries in the past. However, some financial experts wonder whether the introduction of new currency notes could also include demonetisation of the Rs 5,000 or higher denomination notes to combat the counterfeit and black money market. According to experts, cash-strapped Pakistan's economy is influenced a lot by the illegal use of black money which is easier due to the circulation of higher ...

Nawaz Sharif supporters bring lion & tiger at Lahore rally, click selfies

Scores of PML-N supporters took selfies with the lion and tiger locked in iron cages. The wild animals have been brought to multiple PML-N public gatherings in the past

Pakistan's civil-military leadership holds meeting amid tension with Iran

Pakistan's civil-military leadership held a high-level consultative meeting on Friday to discuss the ongoing tiff with Iran as the two neighbours made amends to repair the frayed ties following their military strikes in each other's territory. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar presided over the meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) while services chiefs, cabinet ministers, and other officials were in attendance, sources said. The NSC meeting has started and is currently underway, a source said. The officials from the defence and foreign ministries will brief the meeting about the attack by Iran and counter charge by Pakistan armed forces, sources said. It is said the NSC is likely to give guidelines for future ties with Iran. Kakar had rushed back home on Thursday night from Davos, where he had gone to attend the World Economic Forum event after Pakistan and Iran carried out military strikes against each other. Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" ag

Pak's caretaker PM forms committee to ensure smooth conduct of Feb 8 polls

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has constituted a seven-member committee mandated with ensuring the smooth conduct of the February 8 general elections already impaired by allegations of "pre-poll rigging", according to a media report. According to a notification issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Thursday, interim Minister for Communications, Railways, and Maritime Affairs Shahid Ashraf Tarar has been named as the head of the committee, the Dawn newspaper reported. The other members include the interior secretary, four provincial chief secretaries as well as any other co-opted individual desired by the committee. As per the PMO notification, the committee will have the mandate to oversee the security arrangements for polls; review and resolve matters regarding administrative arrangements and coordination for the smooth conduct of elections; issue directions for urgent requirements of additional security where law and order situation requires, and .

Attack 'seriously damaged bilateral ties': Pak foreign minister to Iran

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has told his Iranian counterpart that the unprecedented attack by Iran seriously damaged the ties between the two nations. Iranian missiles and drones on Tuesday night targeted two bases of the Balochi militant group Jaish al Adl in Pakistan's border town of Panjgur in Balochistan province. Jilani, who is currently leading the Pakistan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday in a telephonic conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed that the attack conducted by Iran inside the Pakistani territory on January 16 was not only a serious breach of Islamabad's sovereignty but also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran, the Foreign Office said in an overnight statement. Expressing Pakistan's unreserved condemnation of the attack, the foreign minister added that the incident has ...

Pak's PTI party candidates were picked with little input: Imran Khan

Pakistan's jailed ex-premier Imran Khan has said that his party candidates for the February 8 elections were picked with his little input and he was largely unaware of ticket distribution among them. Khan made these remarks on Saturday after attending court proceedings in the Toshakhana corruption case, according to a report by the Dawn newspaper. Before the court proceedings began, about two dozen PTI workers and candidates of different constituencies complained to 71-year-old Khan about being denied party tickets. He told them that the tickets were awarded with his little input and that he was unaware of their distribution. He explained to them that it was not possible for him to make a quick decision on the award of 850 tickets in a brief discussion with party leaders, the paper reported. Khan also again accused his rival Nawaz Sharif of playing the match with the umpires of choice. He said that a certified money launderer returned to Pakistan under the London Plan and was give

Imran Khan challenges rejection of his nomination papers from 2 seats

Pakistan's jailed former premier Imran Khan on Friday approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the rejection of his nomination papers on two National Assembly seats in the run-up to the general elections. Khan, 71, filed two separate petitions in the LHC challenging the decisions of the returning officers (ROs) and the appellate tribunals for rejecting his nomination papers from NA-122, Lahore and NA-89, Mianwali, cities of Punjab province. A three-judge full bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi will hear the petitions on Saturday.

IMF approves $700 mn second tranche of $3 bn package for Pakistan

Ahead of the next month's elections, the IMF on Thursday approved a USD 700 million loan tranche for cash-strapped Pakistan under an existing USD 3 billion bailout package after completing its first review of the country's economic reform programme. The Ministry of Finance announced the completion of the first review by the Executive Board of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Dawn newspaper reported. A mission from the Washington-based global lender reviewed the country's economic performance during the first three months of the fiscal year from July to September, 2023. The completion of the review allows for an immediate disbursement of USD 700 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), bringing the total disbursements under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to USD 1.9 billion, the ministry said in a statement. The initial tranche of USD 1.2 billion of the current IMF programme --amounting to USD 3 billion-- was released in July 2023. The other two tranches

Pakistan's former PM Sharif to launch election campaign as front-runner

Analysts believe the South Asian nation's powerful military has thrown its backing to Sharif, 74, after it was locked in a standoff with former cricket star Khan, 71

Anti-Terrorism Court summons Imran Khan in case related to May 9 protests

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in a case related to May 9 protests, Pakistan-based ARY News reported

Pakistan witnessed 17% spike in terrorist violence last year: Report

Pakistan witnessed a 17 per cent spike in terrorist violence in 2023, with a total of 306 militant attacks which killed 693 people, according to a new think tank report which said banned groups like the Pakistani Taliban, Islamic State Khorasan, and the Balochistan Liberation Army accounting for over 82 per cent of the terrorism-related deaths. The security report for 2023 by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) released before the February 8 general elections raises questions over the security of electoral candidates and political leaders during the election campaign and polling, the Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday. The report said militants' intensifying attacks indicate that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates will continue to resort to an intensified terrorism onslaught with a view to force' Pakistan to reinstate the process of dialogue. The report emerged days after the interior ministry informed the Senate that the continuous influx of TTP ..

Pak Election Commission to set up over 92,500 polling stations for polls

The official polling scheme will notably be revealed 15 days before the scheduled February 8 general elections

Pak media criticises govt for crackdown on Baloch long march protesters

The Baloch protesters remained in their camps outside Islamabad's National Press Club, pressing authorities to accept their demands

Party backed by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed fields candidates in Pak elections

A new political front organisation of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has fielded candidates for most of the national and provincial assembly constituencies across Pakistan for the February 8 general elections, saying it wants to make the country an Islamic welfare state. Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has been in jail since 2019 after being convicted for several years in multiple terror finance cases along with some other leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) party - set up by Saeed - says it is a political party. The electoral symbol for the PMML is 'chair'. In a video message, PMML President Khalid Masood Sindhu said that his party is contesting on most of the national and provincial assembly seats. "We want to come to power not for corruption but to serve the people and make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state," he said. Sindhu is a candidate for NA-130 Lahore, from which Pakistan Muslim ...

Pak government stops PCB from selling PSL and international media rights

Pakistan's caretaker government has stopped the PCB from selling media rights of international matches and the Pakistan Super League, forcing the Cricket Management Committee (CMC) head Zaka Ashraf to postpone his planned visit to Australia and seek a meeting with Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakaar, who is also the chief patron of the board. The government's directive came just as the CMC, managing the affairs of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), had started the process of inviting bids for the sale of PSL and international cricket media rights. "The government's Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination (sports) has issued a notification to the board making it clear that from now on, the CMC/PCB has to seek permission from the government before signing any major deal," a reliable source said on Sunday. He added the notification had even led Ashraf to postpone his planned visit to Australia and seek a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister, Anwar ul Haq Kakaar. The government's ...

Pakistan interim interior minister Bugti resigns, likely to join PML-N

The report stated that Bugti tendered his resignation as interim interior minister on December 13 and PM Kakar accepted it on Friday

Police headquarter comes under attack in Pakistan; 2 policemen killed

At least two policemen were killed and as many as injured after militants attacked a regional police headquarters in a former Taliban stronghold in northwest Pakistan on Friday, three days after terrorists killed 23 soldiers in the same region. The attack occurred at the Police Lines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district, the Dawn newspaper reported. A terrorist blew himself up in a suicide bomb and that the huge attack was thwarted, the newspaper quoted Tank District Police Officer Iftikhar Shah as saying. He said that all contingents present in the Police Lines were evacuated safely and that a search operation was underway after alerts of the presence of more militants in the area. The attack was claimed by a new militant group, Ansarul Jihad. The attack comes days after at least 23 soldiers were killed and more than 30 others injured after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a newly formed militant group that is an affiliate of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliba

Pakistan extends Haj application submission deadline till December 22

The move comes when the country's foreign reserves are depleting and to attract more foreign exchange

Schedule for Pakistan's election to be announced 56 days before poll date

"You can calculate the date yourself. It would be somewhere around December 14," a senior official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told Dawn