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Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Pindi orders expansion of Sahulat bazaars
The number of Sahulat bazars across Rawalpindi Division will be increased to provide essential commodities to citizens at reasonable rates. Presiding over a meeting, Rawalpindi Commissioner Engineer Amir Khattak instructed all deputy commissioners to identify suitable locations for the establishment of these bazaars and obtain the required NOCs without delay. He emphasised the timely setup of markets to ensure the availability of affordable goods for the public. The commissioner also directed price magistrates to remain active in the field and ensure transparency in all operations. He called for strict action against those involved in creating artificial inflation, stating that providing relief to the people is the government's top priority and all available resources should be utilised for this purpose. The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hassan Waqar Cheema, Additional Commissioner Coordination Syed Nazarat Ali, Additional Deputy Commissioner Finance and Planning Ramisha Javed, CO Municipal Corporation, and other officials. Officials briefed the commissioner on price-checking operations carried out over the past 24 hours in various tehsils of Rawalpindi district. A total of 4761 inspections were conducted in Gujar Khan, 3850 in Kahuta, 1500 in Kallar Syedan, 5064 in Rawalpindi Cantt, 5230 in City, 2948 in Saddar, and 4995 in Taxila. During these operations, 65 cases of overcharging were reported. Authorities imposed fines amounting to Rs279,500, sealed seven shops, and arrested 13 individuals.
Reuters
16-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Fact Check: Burkina Faso has external debt and there's no evidence it was paid off in March
Burkina Faso did not pay off all its external debt in March 2025, contrary to a claim shared on social media. Facebook posts on March 29 and 30, some shared hundreds of times, said Burkina Faso's military ruler Ibrahim Traore had "successfully and officially PAID his country's international debts", making the West African nation the first on the continent to clear this type of debt. International debt, or external debt, is the money a country owes to foreign lenders, including multilateral institutions, governments, or corporations. By the end of 2024, Burkina Faso had arrears of around $5.6 billion to international creditors, according to a quarterly report, opens new tab (page 35) released on March 20 by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Planning. This was $736 million up from the previous quarter, and an increase of $47 million from a year earlier. The latest quarterly figures do not include credit from commercial banks, which means the final total may be slightly higher. The finance ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. OBLIGATIONS TO IMF Burkina Faso had outstanding obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of 324 million Special Drawing Rights, opens new tab (SDRs), an international reserve asset, opens new tab, as of April 2025, according to an IMF spokesperson. That's equivalent to $434.5 million, opens new tab and is in addition to the $5.6 billion external debt reported by the finance ministry in its quarterly figures. The ministry has included IMF arrears in its domestic debt figures as of 2024. Burkina Faso's other creditors listed in the finance ministry's quarterly report did not respond to requests for comment. Marina Zucker-Marques, a senior academic researcher at Boston University's Global Development Policy Center, suggested it was unlikely that Burkina Faso cleared its non-IMF external debt between January and April. She pointed to a November 2024 report, opens new tab by African Export-Import Bank that said the country's foreign exchange reserves were less than a billion dollars in 2023, though were projected to grow slightly to $1.45 billion by 2025. Even if Burkina Faso used all its foreign exchange reserves to pay off its external debts, this would still not be enough to cover them, Zucker-Marques said in emailed comments. In June 2024, the World Bank and IMF assessed, opens new tab Burkina Faso's external debt distress - when a country struggles to service its external debt - as moderate. Factors affecting the result included political instability since the military junta seized power in a coup in 2022, which led to a decline in gold production and discouraged private capital flows. VERDICT False. Burkina Faso still has outstanding debts with the IMF as of April 2025, according to a Fund spokesperson. The Burkinabe finance ministry released its latest debt figures in March, covering the final quarter of 2024, which showed billions of dollars owed to creditors other than the IMF. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
Bloomberg
04-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Top Philippine Conglomerate SM Warns of Trump's Tariff Risks
US President Donald Trump's tariff plan may stoke inflation in the Philippines, an executive at the Southeast Asian nation's top conglomerate said, as companies in the region brace for the impact of a potential trade war. 'Secondary effects may go to the Philippines and those secondary effects may come across around exchange rate,' SM Investments Corp. Executive Vice President for Treasury, Finance and Planning Erwin Pato said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin on Tuesday.
