New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Pakistan is perhaps the only country in the world where individual debt has become the nation’s burden as those who borrow do not pay back and loan write-offs are common together with defaults, according to a new report.Then there are kickback projects which are built on borrowed money with no framework for payback. IMF has recently observed that there is no check on government spending, says the report in Business Recorder. “There is no parliamentary oversight or deb…
Latest International Monetary Fund News & Updates
New York, May 5 (IANS) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that the global economy would face a “much worse outcome” if the Middle East war drags on into 2027, with oil prices hitting around 125 dollars per barrel. “We are going to see inflation climbing up, and then inevitably, inflation expectations would start de-anchoring,” she said at a conference hosted by the Milken Institute in Washington, D.C., on Monday (local time).She noted that current con…
Islamabad, May 3 (IANS) Using terrorism as an instrument of state policy has imposed high costs on Pakistan, which continues to struggle with a deep economic crisis and is currently on its 23rd bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, according to a recent report.More than a decade after the Abbottabad raid, in which Osama bin Laden was killed, the legacy of the operation continues to shape global perceptions of counter-terrorism efforts and raises lingering questions about how the …
Washington, May 2 (IANS) India’s push to digitise public administration has raised productivity among microenterprises, with states that adopted more reforms seeing stronger gains and narrower gaps between firms, an International Monetary Fund working paper shows.The study says “public administration digitalisation, carried out state-by-state in India between 2010 and 2015, led to an improvement in micro-enterprise productivities,” based on national survey data.Researchers examined firm-le…
New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) Pakistan is confronting its most serious fuel‑price shock in over half a century, which could trigger a cascade of economic problems and undermine Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, a new report has said.The report from Aljazeera said soaring global oil costs have hit Pakistan particularly hard because the country is heavily dependent on imported energy and remittances from Gulf states, along with an “already precarious balance-of-payments position.” The West…
New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) India’s digital payments ecosystem 25 per cent year-on-year growth in the month of April at 22.35 billion transactions at Rs 29.03 lakh crore in terms of value, which is a 21 per cent annual growth, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Friday.On a daily basis, the average number of transactions saw a notable increase to 745 million in April (from 730 million in March).The average daily transaction value also rose to Rs 96,76…
New Delhi, April 30 (IANS) India’s flagship digital payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has recorded an extraordinary nearly 12,000-fold surge in transaction volume over the past decade, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.Launched on April 11, 2016, by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) under the regulatory supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UPI has evolved into the backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem.From a modest base of jus…
New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) While the West Asia conflict constitutes a significant supply shock with rising risks to inflation, trade, and financial flows, India’s domestic demand, policy buffers, resilient financial system, and sustained public investment provide some insulation, the Finance Ministry’s Monthly Economic Review for the month of April said on Wednesday.Whether these factors would prove adequate in the event of prolonged uncertainty about energy and fertiliser supplies is an impor…
New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) In fresh trouble for financially-starving Pakistan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has added 11 new conditions to the ongoing $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, according to a new report.A report in Business Recorder says that one condition is the enactment of an amendment to the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act and the Special Technology Zones Authority Act to phase out existing fiscal incentives and shift from profit-based to cost-based incenti…
New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) Pakistan’s fragile economic footing has come into sharp focus amid shifting geopolitical and financial dynamics, even as Islamabad projects itself as a voice for peace on the global stage, a report has said.During heightened tensions linked to the US-Israel conflict with Iran, Pakistan drew international attention for its diplomatic outreach. However, behind this image of stability, a sudden financial strain exposed the country’s dependence on external support, acc…