Latest news with #Lahore
Zawya
7 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Pakistan signs $4.5bln loans with local banks to ease power sector debt
Pakistan has signed term sheets with 18 commercial banks for a 1.275 trillion Pakistani rupee ($4.50 billion) Islamic finance facility to help pay down mounting debt in its power sector, government officials said on Friday. The government, which owns or controls much of the power infrastructure, is grappling with ballooning 'circular debt', unpaid bills and subsidies, that has choked the sector and weighed on the economy. The liquidity crunch has disrupted supply, discouraged investment and added to fiscal pressure, making it a key focus under Pakistan's $7 billion IMF programme. Finding funds to plug the gap has been a persistent challenge, with limited fiscal space and high-cost legacy debt making resolution efforts more difficult. 'Eighteen commercial banks will provide the loans through Islamic financing,' Khurram Schehzad, adviser to the finance minister, told Reuters. The facility, structured under Islamic principles, is secured at a concessional rate of 3-month KIBOR, the benchmark rate banks use to price loans, minus 0.9%, a formula agreed on by the IMF. "It will be repaid in 24 quarterly instalments over six years," and will not add to public debt, Power Minister Awais Leghari said. Existing liabilities carry higher costs, including late payment surcharges on Independent Power Producers of up to KIBOR plus 4.5%, and older loans ranging slightly above benchmark rates. Meezan Bank, HBL, National Bank of Pakistan and UBL were among the banks participating in the deal. The government expects to allocate 323 billion rupees annually to repay the loan, capped at 1.938 trillion rupees over six years. The agreement also aligns with Pakistan's target of eliminating interest-based banking by 2028, with Islamic finance now comprising about a quarter of total banking assets. ($1 = 283.5000 Pakistani rupees)
New York Times
12 hours ago
- New York Times
On the Silk Road, Traces of Once Bustling Intercontinental Trade
Lahore, Pakistan, is more visibly armed than Alabama, choked by Kafka-grade bureaucracy and pollution so thick you spit gray into the sink when you brush your teeth. These realities do not mar Lahore's five spreads in THE SILK ROAD: A Living History (Hemeria, $55), a sometimes beautiful travelogue of landscapes, buildings and faces along the route that once conveyed untold wealth between Europe and China, before the 16th century took trade out to sea. What the photographer Christopher Wilton-Steer does catch is the odd potential for solitude in a city so populous, as well as its architectural dignity and the benevolent pride with which Pakistanis regard outsiders. Wilton-Steer is a Londoner. In his overland trek spanning thousands of miles and 170 photographs, taken from both drone and ground vantages, his goal is feel-good: to prove that the Silk Road's 'legacy of interconnectivity and exchange' lives today, he writes, even if the literal goods now go by boat. The photos deliver. Because they flow west to east in the book, and because Wilton-Steer's favorite angles emerge as patterns throughout, they braid a telling human gradient: from onion domes in Venice to the pitched facades of Uzbekistan, from a Christian stele in Turkey to a Buddhist one in South Asia, from Uyghur faces to Han ones across China. And much to his credit, he doesn't falsely rusticate. His natives drive trucks past ruined Soviet airstrips. They wear cheugy leopard-print sweaters when they spin wool. That's life. But revelation isn't the endgame of the picturesque. Wilton-Steer's crinkled peaks and tender children of Tajikistan are prettily shot, but does it matter that the new schools, infrastructures, marketplaces and tourist centers that he depicts have been funded by the Aga Khan IV, the late billionaire developer and Muslim leader whose foundation also financed the photographer's voyage? (Wilton-Steer is the organization's head of communications.) This welcome if partisan book optimistically suggests that although container ships do the carrying now, cultural traders are alive and well on the Silk Road.
Arab News
a day ago
- Science
- Arab News
Three Pakistani schools among Top 10 finalists for World's Best School Prizes 2025
ISLAMABAD: Three Pakistani schools have this week been named among the Top 10 finalists for the World's Best School Prizes 2025, prestigious global awards founded by T4 Education to spotlight exceptional schools transforming education and communities. T4 Education is a global digital platform and community founded to empower teachers and schools to share best practices and drive positive change in education worldwide. It launched the World's Best School Prizes to spotlight schools making an exceptional impact beyond the classroom. Winners of the five World's Best School Prizes — for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives — will be announced in October following evaluation by an expert Judging Academy and a global public vote. Finalists and winners will share their insights at the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi in November. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif commended the management, teachers and students of the three Pakistani schools: the Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School and Nordic International School, both in Lahore, and the Beaconhouse College Program Juniper Campus in Quetta. 'These schools have made a name for themselves in terms of modern curriculum, research, technology, environment, development of backward and rural areas,' Sharif said in a statement released by his office. 'These educational institutions have made the country's name known all over the world.' Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School in Lahore has been shortlisted for the World's Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity. The charity school, which began in an abandoned factory, now educates nearly 800 students from marginalized backgrounds through the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Program. It is the first in Pakistan to offer this curriculum to underserved communities, empowering students with critical 21st-century skills and bridging socio-economic divides. Beaconhouse College Program, Juniper Campus, Quetta, is a finalist for the Community Collaboration prize for its 'Science Gaari' initiative — a student-led mobile science lab bringing hands-on STEM education to remote schools in Balochistan, one of Pakistan's most underserved provinces. The project has reached over 150 schools, boosting science engagement and inspiring rural students to pursue careers in technology and research. Nordic International School Lahore has also been named a finalist for Community Collaboration. The independent school emphasizes strong parental involvement and a culture of kindness to foster a supportive learning environment. Parents are engaged throughout students' academic journeys via an interactive app, regular workshops, and celebrations of learning milestones. 'It is in schools like Sanjan Nagar, BCP Juniper Campus Quetta, and Nordic International School Lahore where we find the innovations and expertise that give us hope for a better future,' T4 Education Founder Vikas Pota said.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Dubai-based Careem suspends ride-hailing operations in Pakistan
Careem, Uber's ride-hailing arm in the Middle East, will suspend its Pakistan service on July 18, citing economic challenges, rising competition, and capital constraints, ending its core business in a country where it helped pioneer app-based transport nearly a decade ago. The move underscores strain on Pakistan's digital economy, as tech firms scale back amid high inflation, weak consumer demand, and tighter global capital flows. It ends a nearly decade-long run for Careem, which launched in 2015 and became a dominant player in app-based mobility. "This was an incredibly difficult decision," Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO of Careem, said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. "The challenging macroeconomic reality, intensifying competition, and global capital allocation made it hard to justify the investment levels required to deliver a safe and dependable service in the country." Careem helped normalise digital payments, app-based bookings, and female ridership in Pakistan. Newer entrants such as Russia-backed Yango and Latin America's inDrive have expanded in major cities, offering low-cost models. The decision follows Uber's exit from Pakistan in 2022. Pakistan's startup ecosystem has come under pressure since 2022 as venture funding dried up, inflation surged to a record 38% before falling to 3.5%, and consumption weakened. Startups including Airlift, Swvl, VavaCars and Truck It In have shut down or scaled back. Globally, firms like Uber, Lyft and Grab have exited unprofitable markets, narrowed focus, or expanded into adjacent services such as deliveries and payments. Rising costs, regulation, and thin margins in emerging markets have added to the strain. Uber still operates in parts of the Middle East and North Africa but has pulled back from Pakistan in 2024 after announcing an initial exit in 2022.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Careem to suspend decade-old Pakistan service
Careem, Uber's ride-hailing arm in the Middle East, will suspend its Pakistan service on July 18, citing economic challenges, rising competition, and capital constraints, ending its core business in a country where it helped pioneer app-based transport nearly a decade ago. The move underscores strain on Pakistan's digital economy, as tech firms scale back amid high inflation, weak consumer demand, and tighter global capital flows. It ends a nearly decade-long run for Careem, which launched in 2015 and became a dominant player in app-based mobility. 'This was an incredibly difficult decision,' Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO of Careem, said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. 'The challenging macroeconomic reality, intensifying competition, and global capital allocation made it hard to justify the investment levels required to deliver a safe and dependable service in the country.' Careem helped normalize digital payments, app-based bookings, and female ridership in Pakistan. Newer entrants such as Russia-backed Yango and Latin America's inDrive have expanded in major cities, offering low-cost models. The decision follows Uber's exit from Pakistan in 2022. Pakistan's startup ecosystem has come under pressure since 2022 as venture funding dried up, inflation surged to a record 38 percent before falling to 3.5 percent, and consumption weakened. Startups including Airlift, Swvl, VavaCars and Truck It In have shut down or scaled back. Globally, firms like Uber, Lyft and Grab have exited unprofitable markets, narrowed focus, or expanded into adjacent services such as deliveries and payments. Rising costs, regulation, and thin margins in emerging markets have added to the strain. Uber still operates in parts of the Middle East and North Africa but has pulled back where profitability remains elusive.
