Pakistan Financial News

Pakistan on policies to be supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in providing USD 3 billion, the last minute rescue package for Islamabad’s acute balance of payment crisis. According to major global credit rating agencies Islamabad would be compelled to default on external borrowings without the IMF assistance. Surprisingly, Pak forex reserves are now below USD 3.5 billion, hardly sufficient for less than a month’s requirement for even essential imports.

Pakistan in badly needed relief to help bail out the impoverished country's ailing economy. The nine-month agreement must be approved by the IMF's Executive Board, which is expected to make a final decision in mid-July, a top IMF official, Nathan Porter, said in a statement late Thursday.

Pakistan on a bigger-than-expected $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), a last-minute rescue package for the country facing an acute balance-of-payments crisis. Islamabad was racing against time to unlock $1.1 billion under the IMF's ninth review of a $6.5-billion Extended Fund Facility agreed upon in 2019.

Crypto exchange Gemini has announced plans to expand into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region to capture the “next wave of growth for crypto.”

A top federal official representing India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), recommended all banks adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology to ensure sustainable growth and stability.

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.__________

Just days after announcing that cryptocurrencies will “never be legalized” in the country, Pakistan’s Ministry of IT & Telecom drafted a policy to spur the growth of artificial intelligence (AI). 

Pakistan Finance Minister has said the country will not legalize crypto trading, citing regulations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Pakistan will ban cryptocurrency services operating in the country and never legalize crypto trading, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said at a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on May 16, according to multiple local media reports. Other officials, including State Bank of Pakistan director Sohail Jawad, spoke in favor of the decision. 

In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Brent Xu, founder and CEO of Umee — a decentralized finance hub built on the Cosmos SDK that offers tools for macro-level borrowing and lending applications. Before founding Umee, Xu led strategy at Tendermint while setting the strategic roadmap and partnerships for the Cosmos Ecosystem.

Asset managers like BlackRock are not «the environmental police,» Larry Fink said in his annual chairman's letter to investors, which was published on Wednesday.

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today's crypto news.__________

Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) — a group of 31 traditional banks operating in Pakistan — signed off on the development of a blockchain-based platform for Know Your Customer (KYC) initiatives. 

debt for distressed economies, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said on Saturday on the sidelines of a G20 meeting, adding that banning private cryptocurrencies should be an option. India's G20 presidency comes at a time when its South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are seeking urgent IMF funds due to an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. China, the world's largest bilateral creditor, urged G20 nations on Friday to conduct a fair, objective and in-depth analysis of the causes of global debt issues as clamour grows for lenders to take a large haircut, or accept losses, on loans. «On debt restructuring, while there are still some disagreements, we now have the global sovereign debt roundtable with consideration of all public and private creditors,» IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters after the roundtable she co-chaired with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Cameron Winklevoss, an American investor and co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, predicts that Asia will be the beginning of the next bull run for cryptocurrencies.

Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of Gemini, recently opined that the next crypto bull run will come from the East. His remarks come amid a ramp-up in enforcement action and impending crackdowns by the U.S. regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Crypto's next bull run will start in Asia, according to Cameron Winklevoss, an American investor, and co-founder of crypto exchange Gemini.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan held talks Monday with the International Monetary Fund in an effort to restart a stalled bailout program, as economists warn that the country is in danger of defaulting on its foreign debt.

There were protests in southeastern Iran on Friday, according to images shared by human rights groups. 

While some countries like Nigeria are aggressively pushing the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), a new report summarized why a number of private stakeholders are against the idea of a CBDC. 

Regulators worldwide see central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a way to enhance fiat capabilities by inheriting the financial prowess of technologies that power cryptocurrencies. Pakistan joined this list by announcing new regulations to ensure the launch of an in-house CBDC by 2025.