Author: Finance for Sight

MOSCOWRussian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the telephone to discuss a possible settlement of the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin said Friday. The call took place shortly after Putin on Thursday said he had “serious questions” about Washington’s plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine but added that Moscow was ready to discuss it with US President Donald Trump. Putin told the crown prince he “greatly appreciated the mediation efforts of Saudi Arabia”, which hosted talks talks between Russian and American officials on February 18, a Kremlin statement said. Prince Mohammed “noted the importance…

The Pakistani rupee remained unchanged against the US dollar during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday. At 10:20am, the rupee was hovering at 280.05 against the greenback. On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 280.05. Internationally, the US dollar was broadly firmer on Friday with the euro pulling further away from a five-month peak as markets grappled with escalating global trade tensions and risks of a sharp economic downturn. Sowing more volatility across markets, US President Donald Trump threatened to hit Europe with a 200% tariff on wine, cognac and other alcohol imports. The escalating…

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia supported a US proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine in principle, but that any truce would have to address the root causes of the conflict and that many crucial details needed to be sorted out. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions of people, reduced towns to rubble and triggered the sharpest confrontation between Moscow and the West in decades. Putin’s heavily caveated support for the US ceasefire proposal looked designed to signal goodwill to Washington and to open the…

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Thursday approved limited export of potassium sulphate fertiliser from the Gwadar North Free Zone, allowing M/s Agven Private Limited to export up to 10,000 tons annually, according to a statement from the Finance Division. The decision was taken in the ECC meeting chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. Govt reduces buyback rate for solar net-metering electricity to Rs10 per unit “The ECC approved an exemption for M/s Agven Private Limited, operating in the Gwadar North Free Zone, to export up to 10,000 tons annually or 50% of actual production, whichever is lower, until December…

The US Justice Department on Wednesday opened an investigation into the operation of New York City hotels as migrant shelters, according to media reports. The Guardian newspaper and the New York Times, both saying they obtained a copy of a federal subpoena sent to a New York hotel that houses migrants, reported prosecutors are seeking a full list of names of migrants staying there. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the investigation, nor did the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Times reported that the target of the subpoena was the…

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made “a very promising statement” on a possible Ukraine ceasefire, but added that “it wasn’t complete.” Trump’s comments came after Putin said he backed the idea of a 30-day ceasefire but had serious questions about it that he wanted to discuss with his US counterpart. “He put out a very promising statement but it wasn’t complete,” Trump, who was meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House, told reporters when asked about Putin’s remarks. “I’d love to meet with him or talk to him. But…

Rupee’s Performance Against US Dollar Since 20 Jan 2025 The Pakistani rupee saw marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the currency settled at 280.05, a loss of Re0.08 against the greenback. On Wednesday, the rupee had closed at 279.97. Internationally, the US dollar rebounded slightly on Thursday thanks to a rise in US Treasury yields, though currencies traded in tight ranges as investors struggled to determine the impact of an escalating global trade war on US inflation and growth. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened further tariffs on European…

CHARLEVOIX: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Canadian counterpart Thursday as part of the highest-level US visit to Washington’s northern neighbor since threats launched by President Donald Trump, whose trade war and bid for a Ukraine ceasefire dominated a Group of Seven meeting. Canada, the current president of the club of powerful economies, is gathering G7 foreign ministers for three days of talks inside a rustic hotel in snow-covered Charlevoix, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Once broadly unified, the G7 – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – has…

The government has reduced the buyback rate for net metering electricity to Rs10 per unit from previously Rs27 per unit, attributing the decision to “significant increase in the number of solar net-metering consumers, with associated financial implications for grid consumers”. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, approved a set of amendments to the existing net-metering regulations aimed at reducing the “growing financial burden on grid consumers”, according a statement from the Finance Division. “As part of the approved changes, the ECC has revised the buyback…

NEW YORK: Two days before US agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife of more than two years, said she was confused. As a legal permanent resident of the US, surely Khalil did not have to worry about that, she recalls telling him. “I didn’t take him seriously. Clearly I was naive,” Abdalla, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview. US Department of Homeland Security agents handcuffed her…