Pakistan Forex Reserves Edge Up To $16.51 Bln

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $16.51 billion in the week ended March 30, from $16.44 billion in the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $11.84 billion from $11.77 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks remained unchanged at $4.67 billion. Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in July last year, boosted by inflows of $411 million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank and a $196.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. Higher exports and record remittances have also supported Pakistan’s reserves. Remittances...

Read more »

Pakistan Fuel Oil Imports Rise 18 Per Cent

Pakistan bought more than 450,000 tonnes of fuel oil in March, its highest level this year, led by higher imports of high-sulphur grade fuel, official data showed on Thursday. Total fuel oil imports, used for power generation, climbed 70,328 tonnes to 460,688 tonnes, up around 18 per cent, figures from the Oil Companies Advisory Committee showed. High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) volumes rose by 132,492 tonnes at 392,499 tonnes, while low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) fell 62,164 tonnes to 68,189 tonnes. The rise was in line with expectations, as Pakistan imported only about 390,000 tonnes last month, out of the term volume of 890,000 tonnes state-owned...

Read more »

Taliban Kill Eight Afghan Police

Taliban gunmen killed eight local policemen in an attack on a remote post in westernAfghanistan, a provincial official said Thursday. The attack happened late on Wednesday, said Naqibullah Farahi, spokesman for the provincial administration of Farah, which bordersIran. Earlier a suicide bomb attack had claimed 12 lives in northern Afganistan the same day. “The Taliban attacked an Afghan local police post” in Khaki Safed district, he told AFP. “There were eight people in the post and all were killed.” Investigators have gone to the area, he added. Contacted by AFP, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack...

Read more »

Oil Recovers In Asian Trade

Oil recovered in Asian trade Thursday after sharp overnight losses triggered by a larger-than-expected jump in US crude stocks, analysts said. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May, gained 49 cents to $101.96 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for May settlement was up 33 cents at $122.67. Investor sentiment had taken a hit after the US Department of Energy said Wednesday in its weekly report that national crude reserves soared by nine million barrels in the week ending March 30. That was a far bigger increase than the average estimate of 1.9 million barrels, according to analysts polled by Dow...

Read more »

Kevin Pietersen Warned Over Switch Hit

Umpires warned England batsman Kevin Pietersen twice for changing his stance to attempt a switch-hit during the second Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday. The flamboyant Pietersen was spoken to by Bruce Oxenford and Asad Rauf after bowler Tillakaratne Dilshan had to stop twice in his run-up as the batsman turned around in his stance. The laws of the game say that the eye-catching switch-hit — a right-hander playing a shot with a left-hander’s grip — is legal but a batsman cannot change stance before the bowler has delivered the ball. The 31-year-old Pietersen, who smashed an explosive 151 off 165 balls studded with 16 fours and six sixes,...

Read more »

Real Stroll Chelsea Squeeze Through To CL Semis

Nine-time champions Real Madrid and Chelsea both booked their places in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday but in vastly different fashions. Real beat the surprise packages of the competition APOEL Nicosia 5-2 at the Bernabeu – Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a double to take him to 49 goals for the season – and an 8-2 aggregate win to seal a semi-final meeting with four-time winners Bayern Munich. Chelsea, though, look far from being able to cope with holders Barcelona in their last four meeting if they repeat their performance in the wobbly 2-1 home win – 3-1 on aggregate – over a Benfica side that was down to 10 men after 40 minutes. The...

Read more »

Mohommad Amir Appears In Anti Corruption Video

Disgraced Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir has appeared in an official video from the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit of the International Cricket Council warning players of the dangers of corruption. The five minute video has been posted on the official ICC website. Highly-rated 19-year-old left-arm paceman Amir was released from a UK jail in February after serving half of a six-month sentence for his part in the spot-fixing scandal during the Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan in 2010. His former teammates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif are serving sentences of 30 and 12 months respectively, handed down by a British court in...

Read more »