Author: Finance for Sight

GENEVA: The United Nations said Monday that Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza was “very concerning”, warning that civilians in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory would face dire consequences. Israel has halted aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip and has now cut its electricity supply, disconnecting the only power line to a water desalination plant in order to ramp up pressure on Hamas. “Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza following its ban last week on the entry of all humanitarian assistance and other necessities of life, including fuel needed to operate generators, is very concerning,” Seif Magango,…

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday said the government seeks to diversify beyond the banking sector for lending purposes and urged the country’s insurance industry to meet its growing demand. This includes expanding the sector by focusing on innovation, enhancing productivity, and driving further growth. The finance minister made these remarks during a meeting held with a delegation of chief executive officers (CEOs) from Pakistan’s leading insurance companies, read a statement released by the Finance Division. According to the statement, Aurangzeb assured the group that the government would carefully consider their proposals, particularly regarding taxation and policy measures necessary for…

OTTAWA: Former central banker Mark Carney claimed a landslide victory on Sunday to lead Canada’s Liberal Party and become its next prime minister, setting him up for a clash with the Trump administration. Liberal party members bet on Carney as the man best placed to take on U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened annexation as well as launching a trade war and punishing tariffs on the longtime ally. Liberal sources say Carney will soon call for a general election. “The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country … if they succeed, they will destroy our way…

Rupee’s Performance Against US Dollar Since 15 Jan 2025 The Pakistani rupee recorded marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% or Re0.10 in the inter-bank market on Monday, closing a session below 280 against the greenback after more than a year. The last time the rupee closed below 280 against the US dollar was in January 2024. During the previous week, the rupee maintained its gradual downturn as it lost Re0.30 or 0.11% in the inter-bank market. The local unit closed at 279.97, against 279.67 it had closed the week earlier against the greenback, according to the State Bank…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis spent a quiet night in the hospital, said the Vatican Monday, a day after the 88-year-old pontiff thanked doctors for his care during the more than three weeks that he has been hospitalised. The leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has shown slight signs of improvement in recent days, appearing to respond well to his treatment for pneumonia, the Vatican said at the weekend. “The Pope spent a quiet night, he is resting,” the Vatican said in a morning bulletin Monday. On Sunday, the Argentine pope missed delivering the traditional Angelus prayer in person…

BRUSSELS: European Union finance ministers will discuss on Monday how to pay for defence through new joint borrowing, existing EU funds and a greater role for the European Investment Bank, with a view to decisions in June, the Polish EU presidency said. In an invitation letter to the ministers, Andrzej Domanski, the finance minister of Poland, which chairs EU meetings, said the talks would follow up on decisions by EU leaders last Thursday to explore these sources of financing. European countries are hastening to boost defence spending and maintain support for Ukraine after US President Donald Trump froze US military…

The Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar, appreciating 0.01% during the opening hours of trading on Monday. At 10am, the rupee was hovering at 279.93 a gain of Re0.04 against the greenback. During the previous week, the rupee maintained its gradual downturn as it lost Re0.30 or 0.11% in the inter-bank market. The local unit closed at 279.97, against 279.67 it had closed the week earlier against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Internationally, the US dollar began Monday on a weak note after significant losses last week due to a potentially weakening…

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration was in touch with four different groups about the sale of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, and that all options were good. TikTok’s fate has been up in the air since a law requiring its owner ByteDance to either sell it on national security grounds or face a ban took effect on January 19. Trump, after taking office on January 20, signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the law. Asked if there was going to soon be a deal…

CHICAGO: Following are U.S. expectations for the resumption of grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CST (1430 GMT) on Friday. Wheat – Down 6 to 8 cents per bushel Wheat futures edged down, losing steam after a short-lived rally fueled by U.S. tariff exemptions for major trading partners Mexico and Canada. Additional pressure also came from expectations of a bumper harvest in top consumer China. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump suspended the tariffs he imposed this week on most goods from Canada and Mexico, the largest buyer of U.S. wheat in…

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday he had given instructions to stop supplying electricity to Gaza, a week after Israel blocked all aid into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The move has echoes of the earliest days of the war when Israel announced a “siege” that included an electricity cutoff to Gaza. “I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip,” Cohen said in a video statement, adding: “We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the…