
Gold prices skyrocket as global, local markets hit new peaks
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Gold prices surged to historic highs in both international and local markets on Thursday, driven by sustained global demand, inflation concerns, and large-scale purchases by various governments.
According to market reports, the persistent rise in gold prices is setting new records daily, with investors turning to the precious metal as a safe-haven asset.
In the international bullion market, the price of gold per ounce increased by $12, reaching an all-time high of $3,050. The impact was immediately reflected in Pakistan's local markets, where the price of 24-carat gold per tola jumped by Rs1,800, reaching a record Rs320,800.
Similarly, the price of 10 grams of 24-carat gold rose by Rs1,543, setting a new high at Rs275,034.
Meanwhile, silver prices experienced a decline. The price of one tola of silver dropped by Rs31, settling at Rs3,524, while the rate for 10 grams fell by Rs26 to Rs3,021.
Market analysts attribute the rising gold prices to ongoing economic instability and increasing global interest in gold as a hedge against inflation.

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Express Tribune
16 hours ago
- Express Tribune
GDP growth forecasted at mere 2.44%
Listen to article Pakistan's economy continues to face challenges in achieving meaningful growth, with projections for the fiscal year 2024-25 indicating a slow recovery. According to estimates from the Lahore School of Economics Modelling Lab, GDP growth is expected to reach only 2.44%, reflecting a slight improvement from the 1.7% growth recorded in the previous fiscal year but still remaining below par. These projections broadly align with official figures, including a recent revision by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, which lowered its Q3 GDP growth estimate from 2.7% to 2.4%. While international institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have provided slightly higher projections ranging from 2.5% to 2.7%, the overall picture still reflects a sluggish economic recovery. One of the main reasons for the weak growth outlook is the poor performance in key productive sectors, particularly manufacturing and agriculture. Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), which should ideally be a driving force for GDP growth, has contracted by 1.9% during the current fiscal year. This continues a trend of stagnation and decline observed over the past two years. In the absence of manufacturing growth, the economy has had to rely heavily on agriculture. However, the agricultural sector has also underperformed, growing at just 0.56%only a quarter of its historical trend rate. The disappointing agricultural growth is largely due to a significant contraction in the production of major crops. Wheat production has dropped by 9%, from 32 million tonnes to 29 million tonnes, while maize has declined by 15%, from 10 million tonnes to 8 million tonnes. Sugarcane production fell by 4%, and rice saw a marginal decrease of 1.4%. Cotton suffered the sharpest fall, contracting by 31%, with output reducing from 10 million to 7 million bales. Analysts argue that this sharp decline cannot be blamed on weather patterns, which have remained consistent. Instead, they attribute the drop to government policy changesmost notably, the removal of long-standing support prices for key crops, a decision that has likely discouraged production. Furthermore, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) measures these crop contractions only in terms of volume, not monetary value. This may result in an underestimation of the actual impact on GDP. For instance, the price of wheat has declined by about Rs1,000 per 40 kg compared to the previous season, reducing the overall value of wheat production by nearly 25%. This translates to significant income losses for farmers and suggests that the real contraction in the agricultural sector could be even worse than officially reported. On the inflation front, the situation has improved compared to previous years, but it still remains a concern. 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Experts warn that while bringing inflation down is important, it should not come at the cost of agricultural output, especially when manufacturing is already in decline. Another structural challenge remains the current account deficit, which has long constrained Pakistan's GDP growth. Historical data show that whenever GDP growth exceeds 5%, the current account deficit tends to widen sharply due to increased imports, which are highly sensitive to economic growth. While remittances provide temporary relief, they are not a sustainable solution. With global trade becoming more volatile due to tariff wars and changing regulations, the potential for export-led growth appears to be diminishing. One proposed solution is to focus on investment-led growth by liberalising the import of investment goods. This would allow domestic industries to upgrade their capabilities and drive growth, provided that non-essential consumption imports are controlled to maintain current account balance. Overall, the outlook for Pakistan's economy remains cautious. While inflation is being brought under control, the country has yet to find a solid path to sustainable and inclusive growth. Both manufacturing and agriculture need policy support, and investment strategies must be realigned to address structural weaknesses in the economy, the LSE Modelling Lab added.


Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Provinces demand NFC, agri tax review
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The NEC also expressed concerns over growing population and showed resolve to find a solution, as the economic growth in this fiscal year was almost equal to the population growth rate. The NEC approved the Rs1 trillion for the federal Public Sector Development Programme and Rs2.9 trillion for the provincial annual development plans. The cumulative budgets of Rs3.9 trillion negate the harsh fiscal ground realities, as the federal government even went to the extent of further reducing some critical proposed allocations to make room for more politically oriented development spending. As against its earlier plan to allocate Rs50 billion for discretionary spending on the parliamentarians schemes, the allocation has been approved at Rs70 billion, showed the NEC document. Not only that, the federal government further increased the spending on provinces' development project from three-day old allocation of Rs93.4 billion to nearly Rs106 billion. The room has been created by further reducing the spending on health and education from the level approved by the Annual Plan Coordination Committee on Monday. The Higher Education Commission's allocation is drastically reduced to Rs39.4 billion whereas the Ministry of health's budget is cut to Rs14.3 billion. To make room for political projects, the allocation for power sector projects was reduced from the earlier proposed Rs104 billion to Rs90 billion. But the water sector allocation has been increased to Rs133 billion, from earlier proposed Rs119 billion. Compared to the budget approved by the APCC on Monday, the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission's (SUPARCO) budget has been reduced from Rs24.2 billion to just Rs5.4 billon while the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's budget is reduced from Rs4.7 billion to Rs781 million. The budget has been finalised by a committee comprising Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and PM's political Advisor Rana Sannuallah Khan. Such large allocations for the provincial projects are in breach of commitments to the IMF for reducing federal expense on provincial projects. The sources said that some of the NEC members discussed the low agriculture sector growth of mere 0.6% in this fiscal year and urged to change the economic policies, including high cost of inputs. The participants of the meeting said that Sindh asked to review the agriculture income tax and take it up with the IMF. Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal did not comment on the question whether the Ministry of Finance will take up the matter with the IMF. The four provincial governments have passed the new agriculture income tax laws but these have not yet been enforced. There is high chance that the IMF would not entertain any such request. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government took up the issue of delay in reopening the NFC award, as the provincial government is demanding higher share in the light of merger of the tribal districts. The prime minister assured the K-P government to convene the NFC meeting in August. However, the government has further reduced the K-P merged districts allocation from Rs70 billion to Rs65.4 billion that had been approved by the APCC on Monday. The Punjab government raised the issue of higher taxes on agriculture machinery. The NEC approved Rs2.86 trillion for the four provincial governments, with the highest spending outlay of Punjab worth Rs1.2 trillion. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will spend Rs417 billion. Sindh government plans to spend Rs995 billion and the Balochistan government is proposing Rs280 billion for development. The proposed development allocations by the four provinces are roughly Rs860 billion more than what the IMF has included in its plan. It means either the provinces will not be able to spend the entire allocations or the IMF cash surplus target will not be met. The NEC also reviewed the implementation of the annual plan for this fiscal and approved the economic targets for the next fiscal. It also took a review of the implementation of the PSDP for the current fiscal year, taking note of low utilization of the funds. The NEC also discussed the progress report of the CDWP & schemes approved by CDWP and ECNEC in the past one year. The NEC authorized the publication of 13th Five Year Plan 2024-29 and approved the URAAN Pakistan Implementation Framework. Exports are projected at $35.3 billion, while foreign remittances are expected to exceed $39.4 billion in the next fiscal year. Imports are projected at $65.2 billion with the current account deficit estimated at $2.1 billion for the next fiscal year. Currently, 1,071 development projects with a total cost of Rs13.4 trillion are under implementation. These projects require an additional Rs10.2 trillion to be completed, and the planning ministry estimates it would take more than a decade to finish them all. The NEC also approved to publish the Five-year economic plan 2024-29. The NEC was told that 13th Five-Year Plan has been updated as a result of stakeholders' consultations and is ready for publication the five year's plan is aimed at a balanced regional and equitable development, enhance export orientation of the economy - vibrant SMEs sector - social protection and poverty alleviation - improve the quality of human resources - moving into the knowledge economy - adaptation and mitigation strategy to combat climate change. The Prime Minister had launched 'URAAN Pakistan' on 31st December, 2024 and the NEC on Wednesday approved its implementation framework.


Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Development projects across federal, provincial levels: NEC makes over Rs4 trillion FY26 allocation
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