Business
IMF relief sought on flood losses | The Express Tribune
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Wednesday informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that its economy suffered Rs744 billion in losses due to floods, with 60% of the damage occurring in the agriculture sector and again sought adjustment of these losses against the programme targets.
The preliminary damage assessment has been shared with the IMF, as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb confirmed that the review talks concluded with the global lender on Wednesday. The talks were aimed at securing two loan tranches totalling around $1.2 billion under separate loan programmes.
Aurangzeb said that the IMF had shared the Memorandum for Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) and that the Staff-Level Agreement for completing the second review would be announced after further discussions. The MEFP is a set of policy documents agreed upon by both sides. “There has been a broader consensus with the IMF,” said the finance minister during an informal discussion outside the Q Block with journalists from two media outlets.
Sources said that towards the conclusion of the talks, discussions focused on adjusting the impact of the floods against the programme’s targets of primary budget surplus and provincial cash surplus. The finance ministry also briefed the prime minister in this regard, they added.
The IMF had set the primary budget surplus target at Rs3.1 trillion and had earlier indicated roughly Rs500 billion adjustments within the budget to offset the flood impact. Sources said that the finance ministry wanted the IMF to allow adjustments against the target to the extent of the actual damages.
According to preliminary findings shared with the IMF, the economy sustained Rs744 billion in losses. After adjusting these losses, the economic growth is now projected to remain at 3.5%, against the annual target of 4.2%. The revised growth projection is still about 1% higher than the World Bank’s recent projection of 2.6%, which also cited flood damage.
Of the Rs744 billion losses, Punjab bore Rs632 billion, according to initial assessments. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) reported Rs51.3 billion in losses, followed by Sindh with Rs32.2 billion, another Rs12.6 billion in K-P, and Rs6.8 billion in Balochistan.
Flooding in three rivers and flash rains in the country’s upper regions inundated large areas, forcing the evacuation of 6.5 million people.
The projected Rs744 billion losses are double the earlier Rs370 billion estimate shared with the IMF.
Details show the agriculture sector sustained Rs439 billion in losses, roughly 60% of the total. Almost all these were crop-related. As a result, agriculture growth is now projected at 3%, compared to the 4.5% target. Growth in the crops sub-sector is expected to fall below 1%, against the target of 5.4%. Crops on 3.3 million acres and 22,841 livestock were affected.
Roughly one-third of the cotton crop was destroyed, with output now projected at 7.2 million bales, a reduction of up to 3.4 million bales, as per preliminary estimates.
Authorities estimated that 12.6% of the rice crop was damaged, with expected production at 8.9 million tonnes, representing a loss of 600,000 to 1.2 million tonnes. Sugarcane production has been revised to 79 million tonnes, reflecting losses between 1.3 million and 3.3 million tonnes, or 4% of budget estimates. Maize production is projected to decline by 13%, with output capped at 9.2 million tonnes.
The industrial sector sustained Rs48 billion in losses, with its annual growth rate revised slightly down to 4.1%, according to the assessment.
The services sector is projected to have suffered the second-highest losses of Rs257 billion, reducing its growth forecast by 0.4% to 3.6%. Within services, the transport and storage subsector incurred the highest loss, Rs150 billion, cutting its growth rate almost by half to 1.9%. Real estate activities recorded Rs55 billion in losses, while wholesale and trade sectors lost Rs40 billion.
Preliminary assessments showed that 229,763 houses were damaged, 790 bridges destroyed, and 866 water infrastructure systems washed away. About 2,811 kilometres of roads were damaged.
In Punjab alone, 213,097 houses were damaged, followed by 6,370 in Balochistan, 3,332 in Sindh, 3,222 in K-P, 2,417 in Azad Kashmir, and 1,260 in Gilgit-Baltistan. In Punjab, 1,216 kilometres of roads and 462 bridges were destroyed, while 5,467 livestock perished.
A total of 1,037 deaths and 1,067 injuries were reported nationwide. The highest number of deaths, 509, occurred in K-P, followed by 322 in Punjab, 90 in Sindh, 38 each in Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 31 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and nine in Islamabad.
Floodwaters also affected eight mines and 1,297 commercial shops. About 2,267 educational institutions, 243 health facilities, and 129 public buildings were damaged. The floods disrupted normal life in 70 districts, affecting 6.5 million people, of whom four million were relocated to safer areas.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously threatened to remove the firm from the department’s supply chain.
Source link
Business
Stocks To Watch: Vishal Mega Mart, Axis Bank, Jio Financial Services, Hindalco, Vedanta, And Others
Last Updated:
Stocks to watch: Shares of firms like Vishal Mega Mart, Axis Bank, Jio Financial Services, Hindalco, Vedanta, and others will be in focus on Friday’s trade
Stocks To Watch on February 27
Stocks to Watch Today, February 27, 2026: Indian equities are likely to open on a cautious note amid mixed global cues. As of 7:41 AM, GIFT Nifty futures were trading 87 points lower at 25,549.
Vishal Mega Mart: Promoter Samayat Services is reportedly looking to offload up to a 6.5 per cent stake via a block deal. The transaction is valued at around Rs 3,507.5 crore, with a floor price of Rs 115 per share.
Axis Bank: The private sector lender has approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking approval to retain a higher stake in its subsidiary, Axis Finance, with only limited dilution proposed.
Netweb Technologies: The company has partnered with Vertiv to develop advanced liquid-cooled rack solutions for AI-focused data centres in India.
Jio Financial Services: The company has infused Rs 2,000 crore into its subsidiary, Jio Credit Ltd, to fund business expansion and growth plans.
Hindalco: The acquisition of AluChem Companies, Inc. through Aditya Holdings LLC has been temporarily delayed after the CFIUS review in the US was paused due to a partial federal government shutdown.
Info Edge: The board has approved a commitment of Rs 250 crore to the newly launched B8 Fund I, a growth-stage fund aimed at strengthening its presence in India’s startup ecosystem.
Reliance Communications: The CBI has reportedly registered a fresh case against Anil Ambani and the company for allegedly defrauding Bank of Baroda of over Rs 2,220 crore between 2013 and 2017.
Ircon International: The Patna High Court has dismissed the company’s writ petition related to VAT assessments for the Ganga Bridge Project (FY11–FY17), upholding a demand of Rs 108.75 crore. Of this, Rs 27.39 crore has been paid, leaving an outstanding Rs 81.36 crore plus interest.
NBCC: The state-run firm has secured project management consultancy orders worth about Rs 775.27 crore (excluding GST) from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for redevelopment projects in New Delhi.
MSTC: The company has emerged as the lowest bidder for a Coal India tender to act as an external service provider for non-regulated sector (NRS) linkage auctions for three years.
Onesource Specialty Pharma: The NSE and BSE have issued no-objection letters for the proposed merger and arrangement involving Steriscience Specialties, Brooks Steriscience and Strides Pharma Services.
Vedanta: ICRA has assigned an ‘ICRA AA’ rating to the company’s NCDs with a ‘Watch Developing’ outlook. It also reaffirmed the long-term rating at ‘ICRA AA’ (Watch Developing) and the short-term rating at ‘ICRA A1+’.
BPCL: The oil marketing company has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore — Bharat Petroleum Global Energy Services — to set up a trading desk for crude oil, natural gas and petrochemical products.
Brigade Enterprises: The company has partnered with Primus Senior Living to develop three senior living communities in South India, with an estimated gross development value of Rs 750 crore.
Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels: The firm has signed a management agreement with Luxmi Tea Co. to operate a 100-room premium hotel under “The Park” brand in Siliguri, West Bengal.
GMDC: The company has signed an MoU with NTPC to jointly explore opportunities in coal and lignite gasification, along with related downstream projects.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google.
Follow News18 on Google. Join the fun, play games on News18. Stay updated with all the latest business news, including market trends, stock updates, tax, IPO, banking finance, real estate, savings and investments. To Get in-depth analysis, expert opinions, and real-time updates. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated.
February 27, 2026, 08:21 IST
Read More
Netflix is walking away from a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets after the WBD board on Thursday deemed a revised bid by Paramount Skydance to be a superior offer.
Earlier this week, Paramount raised its bid to buy the entirety of WBD to $31 per share, up from $30 per share, all cash. It was the latest amendment to Paramount’s multiple offers in recent months — and since moving forward with a hostile bid to buy the company — and it’s now unseated a deal between WBD and Netflix to sell the legacy media company’s studio and streaming businesses for $27.75 per share.
Last week, Netflix granted WBD a seven-day waiver to reengage with Paramount, resulting in the higher bid. Paramount’s offer is for the entirety of WBD, including its pay-TV networks, such as CNN, TBS and TNT.
Netflix had four business days to make changes to its own proposal in light of Paramount’s superior bid, the WBD board said in a statement Thursday.
Instead, the decision by the streaming giant to walk away puts a pin in a drawn-out saga that saw amended offers from both bidders.
Netflix stock spiked 10% in extended trading Thursday, while Paramount stock gained 5%. Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery fell 2%.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”
The latest Paramount bid included a $7 billion breakup fee in the event the proposed merger doesn’t win regulatory approval. The company also agreed to pay the $2.8 billion breakup fee that WBD would owe Netflix if that deal didn’t go through.
Sarandos told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin in an interview last week that Netflix granted WBD the waiver to reopen Paramount talks in order to give shareholders clarity.
“Paramount had been making a ton of noise, flooding the zone with confusion for shareholders … including floating all these hypothetical offers and talking directly to the shareholders and bypassing the Warner Bros. Discovery board,” Sarandos said at the time. “So we’ve given the opportunity to get those shareholders exactly what they deserve, which is complete clarity and certainty.”
However, Sarandos had fallen short of commenting on whether Netflix would up its own offer to match a revised Paramount bid.
And Thursday, Sarandos attended meetings at the White House to discuss the potential tie-up.
“Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process,” the Netflix co-CEOs said in their statement.
“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S.,” they said. “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
Anthropic boss rejects Pentagon demand to drop AI safeguards
Source: Dolphins rank first, Steelers worst in NFLPA survey
Stocks To Watch: Vishal Mega Mart, Axis Bank, Jio Financial Services, Hindalco, Vedanta, And Others
-
Tech1 week agoA $10K Bounty Awaits Anyone Who Can Hack Ring Cameras to Stop Sharing Data With Amazon
-
Fashion6 days agoICE cotton ticks higher on crude oil rally
-
Business7 days agoUS Top Court Blocks Trump’s Tariff Orders: Does It Mean Zero Duties For Indian Goods?
-
Tech1 week agoDonald Trump Jr.’s Private DC Club Has Mysterious Ties to an Ex-Cop With a Controversial Past
-
Business6 days agoEye-popping rise in one year: Betting on just gold and silver for long-term wealth creation? Think again! – The Times of India
-
Entertainment5 days agoViral monkey Punch makes IKEA toy global sensation: Here’s what it costs
-
Sports6 days agoBrett Favre blasts NFL for no longer appealing to ‘true’ fans: ‘There’s been a slight shift’
-
Entertainment6 days agoThe White Lotus” creator Mike White reflects on his time on “Survivor