KARACHI: The price of gold in Pakistan continued to fall, by Rs1,500 per tola in fact on Friday, as it did throughout the world’s gold market, falling by $10 to $1,919 per ounce today but the Pakistani rupee remained stable against the greenback, increasing only fractionally by Rs0.01 and closing at Rs. 286.74 in the interbank market on Friday. The …

NEW YORK: The Biden administration could delay deciding whether to give electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers tradable credits for using electricity generated from renewable fuels, potentially putting the effort to boost EV automakers like Tesla (TSLA.O) in political limbo, two sources familiar with the matter said. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year recommended adding EVs o the U.S. Renewable Fuel …

NEW YORK: A former chief financial officer of multiple special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for embezzling more than $5 million from them, and losing almost all of it trading meme stocks and cryptocurrencies. Cooper Morgenthau, 36, of Fernandina Beach, Florida,pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in January. He was …

ISLAMABAD: Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar promised a delegation of prominent business leaders from Sialkot in Islamabad that he would support the business community and address their concerns on priority. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Commerce in Islamabad, was attended by prominent members of the Sialkot business community, including manufacturers, exporters, and traders. The discussion focused on …

BELEAGUERED bitcoin miners are finally feeling the spring sunshine after a cold, hard crypto winter. The power-hungry companies that pump new bitcoin into circulation have been thrown a lifeline by the cryptocurrency’s rally to above $30,000 this year, which has conspired with falling electricity prices to boost their profitability. The 30-day average of mining revenues has risen to $27.34 million …

WASHINGTON: The World Bank’s management has approved a plan to use some $1 billion in a frozen Afghanistan trust fund for education, agriculture, health and family programs, according to a bank paper and two sources, in what would be a major boost to efforts to ease the country’s worsening humanitarian and economic crises. The plan, outlined in the paper seen …

NEW YORK: Oil hit an 11-month high just below $57 a barrel on Tuesday 12 Jan 2021, bolstered by Saudi Arabia’s plans to limit supply, offsetting worries that rising coronavirus cases globally would curtail fuel demand. Brent crude went up 92 cents, or 1.7%, to $56.58 a barrel, its highest level since last February at $56.75. U.S. West Texas Intermediate …

NP newsroom WASHINGTON, DC: A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Ms. Corinne Deléchat, conducted a virtual mission to Senegal from June 2-12, 2020 and engaged in discussions as part of the first review of the IMF’s Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) approved in January 2020. At the conclusion of this mission, Ms. Deléchat stated that the …

NP newsroom ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has proposed abolishing Withholding Tax (WT) on cash withdrawals from banks, in the upcoming budget, as well the abolition of Super Tax on the banking sector. The state bank made this proposal on the premise that banking channels were avoided most times by businesses and individuals alike because of “such intricacies” …

NP newsroom WASHINGTON: Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, a World Bank report has assessed. The projected fall, which would be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, …