Pakistan

The central bank ​is expected to hold its key policy rate steady at a policy ‌review on Monday, a Reuters poll showed, as rising global energy prices and regional tensions cloud the inflation outlook and limit the room for cuts. All 10 analysts in a Reuters poll expect the State ​Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to hold the rate at 10.5 per cent, after policymakers held the rate ​in January. The central bank has cut the key rate by a cumulative ⁠11.5 percentage points since mid-2024, from a record high of 22pc. Escalating Middle East tensions ​after the US and Israel attacked Iran have raised the risk of disruption to shipping ​through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed oil-and-gas prices higher, adding to Pakistan’s import bill and inflationary pressures. Analysts expect inflation to average between 6pc and 8pc in the coming months, but warned higher oil prices could push it up ​further. “Energy prices should dictate the policy rate trajectory. Inflation could average around 7pc during ​the second half of FY26,” AKD Secu...

Semi-final hero Finn Allen said New Zealand’s thumping demi-final win over South Africa was a “huge confidence booster” ahead of going for their maiden T20 World Cup title in Sunday’s final. Opener Allen hit the fastest-ever T20 World Cup century, off 33 balls, to give his side a crushing nine-wicket win over South Africa and set up a final against India or England in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Allen blasted 10 fours and eight sixes as New Zealand raced to their victory target of 170 with 7.1 overs to spare at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. It was a bruising defeat for 2024 runners-up South Africa, who had been unbeaten in the tournament. “They fight hard, they come hard at us, they’ve got good tall, fast bowlers and it makes it challenging for us,” Allen said of Aiden Markram’s South Africa. “Their boys hit the ball hard, so to get one over them is a huge confidence booster for us going into Sunday. They’ve been the in-form team the whole tournament.” The Auckland-born Allen rose to the occasion in the knockout match aft...

Pakistan on Thursday reported its first case of wild poliovirus in 2026 after a four-year-old child from Bello Union Council in Sujawal District of Sindh tested positive for the virus.

ISLAMABAD: The country continues to face critical challenges in financing and ensuring access to education, reveals a government report released on Thursday. With an alarming number of out-of-school children and 77 per cent of ten-year-olds unable to read and understand a simple text, the urgency of aligning financing priorities with teacher quality, learning materials, and stronger assessment systems has never been greater. Whereas the country’s declining trend in education spending reflects a progressive weakening of education’s position within the national fiscal framework. This was pointed out in a new 171-page report titled “Public Financing in Education 2025-26” released by Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) –a subsidiary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in Islamabad. The report covered low funding in overall education sectors, the role of provincial foundations, learning outcomes, underfunded special education and several other areas. The report analysed education finan...

Pakistan’s benchmark index, the KSE-100, closed in the green on Thursday, gaining 5,433.46 points to settle at 161,210.67. This represents a 3.49 per cent increase from its previous close of 155,777.21 points. Analysts at Topline Securities noted that “momentum gathered strength as the session progressed”. By 10:30am it had gained more than 2,000 points, extending its rise to 3,815.48 points by 11:37am. By 1:02pm, the benchmark was up 4,954.54 points before closing with further gains. Compared to earlier sessions this week, trading on Thursday was marked by relatively lower volatility, with the market holding onto its upward momentum and experiencing only limited pullbacks during the day. Analysts at Topline Securities observed that “it was not merely a rebound, but a statement rally marked by decisive accumulation and broad-based strength”. Trading activity remained healthy, with total volume recorded at 402,543,323 shares and a traded value of Rs29,240,310,794. Among the most actively traded stocks, K-Elect...

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday summoned Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi over the delay in local government elections in the federal capital. The term of the last local government in Islamabad expired in February 2021, and since then, elections have been delayed under various pretexts. As a result, around 2.5 million residents of Islamabad continue to face issues ranging from water shortages to unpaved streets. A five-member ECP bench — headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja — took up the issue of delay in holding local government elections in Punjab and Islamabad, a press release issued via the ECP said. During the hearing, Raja was informed that the secretary of the interior ministry had been sent three letters by the ECP, in which he was asked for “the demarcation of the town corporation, the number of union councils in each town corporation, the provision of the maps of the town corporations, as well as necessary amendments in the ordinance”. However, EC...

The Chief Minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, has approved the ‘Rehman Card’ scheme aimed at providing financial assistance to widows and orphans across the province.

Oil prices surged more than three per cent on Thursday, extending a rally as the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran raised fears of prolonged disruptions to vital Middle East oil and gas supplies. Brent crude advanced $2.65, or 3.26pc, to $83.99 per barrel by 05:20 (GMT), a fifth session of gains. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.76, or 3.70pc, to $77.42. Crude oil markets remained on edge as they face ongoing risks to supply following the attacks in the Middle East, and concerns are centred on the flow of supply through the Strait of Hormuz, ANZ analysts said in a note on Thursday. Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel early on Thursday, as the conflict entered its sixth day and just hours after moves to halt the US air assault were blocked in Washington. On Wednesday, a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, killing at least 80 people, and Nato air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile heading towards Turkiye. Iranian forces have struck oil tankers in or near the Strait ...

Nepal votes on Thursday for a new parliament in a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government. Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party. “Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another,” said Nilanta Shakya, 60, a retired engineer, who was among the first to vote at a college in the capital, Kathmandu. “I hope there is a meaningful change this time,” she added. People stand in a queue outside a polling station as they wait for their turn to vote at a village, in Jhapa district, Nepal on March 5, 2026. — Reuters Nearly 19 million voters are choosing who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores o...

Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (NEOC) confirmed the first wild polio case of 2026 in a four-year-old child from Bello Union Council in Sindh’s Sujawal District on Thursday. Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine for every child under five during each campaign, along with the timely completion of all essential immunisations. In a press release, NEOC said the case was reported through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad. “The Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) is already analysing the best response to tackle and prevent further transmission,” it said. Despite challenges, eradicating the global public threat of polio in Pakistan and worldwide is within reach, and the PEI continued to “intensify its efforts to leave no child behi...

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday unanimously approved an agreement with Pakistan for the application of safeguards at Unit-5 of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant, the Foreign Office of Pakistan said.

The Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, on Thursday ordered tighter security measures and intelligence-based operations following heightened regional tensions and reported casualties in Karachi linked to recent strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel.

WASHINGTON: The White House has acknowledged that the Donald Trump administration is deliberately avoiding categorical statements on Iran, as doing so could limit the president’s flexibility in a fast-evolving security environment. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said deploying US ground troops into Iran is not part of the current military strategy, but declined to rule out the option entirely. “It’s not part of the current plan, but I’m not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table,” she said. Leavitt suggested that previous administrations had sometimes narrowed their strategic space by prematurely dismissing potential actions before fully assessing how unfolding developments might alter the situation. The present approach, she indicated, is designed to preserve maximum latitude for decision-making. The calibrated message reflects a broader doctrine in US national security policy: maintain ambiguity to strengthen deterrence while avoidi...

Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has announced the discovery of significant oil and gas reserves in Kohat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, describing it as the largest find in the sector so far this year.

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formally launched the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Women Empowerment Policy (2026–2030).

The ongoing war in the Middle East has intensified the regional aviation crisis, with more than 20,000 flights reportedly cancelled across eight countries over the past five days.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday forecast mainly dry weather in most parts of the country over the next 24 hours, while cold and partly cloudy conditions are expected to persist in hilly areas.

ISLAMABAD: A former senior adviser to the US Secretary of Defence, has claimed that the US Navy is increasingly relying on Indian ports for docking and unloading operations due to escalating tensions with Iran. Former US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor’s remarks, made in a recent interview on One America News, have sparked discussion on social media, particularly in South Asia, highlighting what some view as a potential shift in US military logistics away from traditional Persian Gulf bases, according to a media report. He argued that threats to US installations in the Gulf had prompted this pivot towards Indian facilities, suggesting the move formed part of broader American operations potentially linked to conflicts involving Iran. However, New Delhi has termed these reports “baseless and fabricated”. In a post on X, the MEAFactCheck account of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the claim that Indian ports are being used by the US Navy are fake and false. Official US-India defence cooperation, stren...

A MAP detailing US strikes on Iran, which was shown at Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon briefing.—X / IdreesAli114 • Ex-Khamenei aide says Tehran has no intention of negotiating • Israel plans another ‘one, two weeks’ of attacks • Death toll in Iran crosses 1,000; Tehran hits back at targets in Gulf; Qatar, Turkiye condemn strikes • US expands bombing further into country; claims killing leader of Trump assassination plot • UN Iran probe body says war violates Charter • White House eyes ‘post-war role’ in Iran DUBAI / TEHRAN / WASHINGTON: Even as US and Israeli forces continued to pummel targets across Iran, Iran claimed “complete control” of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for world oil and gas supplies, and any vessels seeking to pass risked damage from missiles or stray drones. A security official close to IRGC said its new head, Ahmad Vahidi, was present in every high-ranking meeting and that its overriding obj...

Analysts hail government's foreign policy