Business
Aurangzeb set to represent Pakistan at IMF, World Bank meetings in Washington – SUCH TV
Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Aurangzeb is set to leave for the United States to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).
Earlier, the finance minister virtually addressed a business session arranged for the visiting Saudi business delegation at the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) in Karachi.
The event was jointly hosted by OICCI and the Pakistan Business Council (PBC).
Expressing gratitude to both organizations for the invitation, Aurangzeb said he regretted not being able to attend in person due to his imminent departure for Washington to participate in the IMF and World Bank meetings.
Recalling his recent meeting with His Highness Prince Mansour and members of the Saudi delegation at a luncheon hosted by the Prime Minister, the minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to empowering the private sector as the main driver of economic growth, with the government acting as a facilitator by ensuring an enabling environment.
Highlighting Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic indicators, Aurangzeb said that stability had been restored, with all three major global rating agencies now aligned after several years. He added that stable financing rates, a steady exchange regime, and healthy reserves had made capital and profit repatriation a routine matter.
Referring to Pakistan’s timely repayment of a US$500 million Eurobond on September 30, he remarked, “When there is macroeconomic stability, such events become non-events — there is no drama.”
Aurangzeb noted that while the government had made significant progress on economic stabilization, it was also advancing structural reforms in taxation and the energy sectors through a consultative process with the private sector.
He acknowledged the valuable input of OICCI and PBC in shaping these reforms and appreciated the growing strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia, particularly under the guidance of His Excellency Al-Tuwaijri, citing the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 as a model of successful execution.
The minister reiterated Pakistan’s focus on strengthening export-led growth — a key driver for sustainable development — and informed participants that the Federal Cabinet had recently approved the historic Security Pact signed between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
He termed this development a significant step in deepening the multifaceted ties between the two brotherly countries.
He said Pakistan currently enjoys a unique confluence of favorable factors – macroeconomic stability and positive geopolitical tailwinds – with longstanding partners such as Saudi Arabia, China, and the United States engaging with us on trade and investment, emphasizing that the Saudi delegation’s visit is both timely and strategically important in unlocking new avenues of bilateral cooperation.
On the domestic front, Senator Aurangzeb said that the government is finalizing rapid damage assessments following recent floods and will prioritize the use of domestic resources for rescue and relief operations before considering external assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Regarding the ongoing engagement with the International Monetary Fund, the Minister reaffirmed that talks with the IMF mission remain constructive, with only a few outstanding issues, and expressed optimism about reaching a staff-level agreement shortly during his upcoming meetings in Washington.
Addressing His Highness Prince Mansour and the Saudi business delegation, the Finance Minister commended the thought leadership and professionalism of Pakistan’s private sector, represented by OICCI and PBC.
He noted that the session would highlight key sectors of mutual interest including agriculture, mining, IT, pharmaceuticals, and tourism, while presenting concrete project opportunities.
The Minister also apprised the participants of two major reform tracks being personally led by the Prime Minister on taxation reforms and Pakistan’s digital transformation towards a cashless economy.
He pointed out that while Pakistan’s recorded economy stands at US$411 billion, nearly half remains undocumented, implying that “the real size of our economy is close to a trillion dollars.”
He added that digitization and documentation will be pivotal in broadening the tax base and improving fiscal discipline.
Concluding his remarks, Senator Aurangzeb extended his best wishes to His Highness Prince Mansour and the Saudi delegation for their engagements in Karachi and Lahore, and expressed hope for fruitful deliberations and enhanced investment partnerships between the business communities of both countries.
He also looked forward to meeting the Saudi leadership again during the forthcoming Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh.
Business
Stock Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs; Bank Nifty Climbs 60,000 For The First Time
Stock Market News Live Updates: Indian equity benchmarks opened with a strong gap-up on Monday, December 1, touching fresh record highs, buoyed by a sharp acceleration in Q2FY26 GDP growth to a six-quarter peak of 8.2%. Positive cues from Asian markets further lifted investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex was trading at 85,994, up 288 points or 0.34%, after touching an all-time high of 86,159 in early deals. The Nifty 50 stood at 26,290, higher by 87 points or 0.33%, after scaling a record intraday high of 26,325.8.
Broader markets also saw gains, with the Midcap index rising 0.27% and the Smallcap index advancing 0.52%.
On the sectoral front, the Nifty Bank hit a historic milestone by crossing the 60,000 mark for the first time, gaining 0.4% to touch a fresh peak of 60,114.05.
Meanwhile, the Metal and PSU Bank indices climbed 0.8% each in early trade.
Global cues
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Monday as traders assessed fresh Chinese manufacturing data and increasingly priced in the likelihood of a US Federal Reserve rate cut later this month.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are now assigning an 87.4 per cent probability to a rate cut at the Fed’s December 10 meeting.
China’s factory activity unexpectedly slipped back into contraction in November, with the RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI by S&P Global easing to 49.9, below expectations of 50.5, as weak domestic demand persisted.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.6 per cent, while the broader Topix declined 0.86 per cent. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 0.30 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.31 per cent.
US stock futures were steady in early Asian trade after a positive week on Wall Street. On Friday, in a shortened post-Thanksgiving session, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.65 per cent to 23,365.69, its fifth consecutive day of gains.
The S&P 500 rose 0.54 per cent to 6,849.09, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 289.30 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 47,716.42.
Osmond ChiaBusiness reporter
Getty ImagesSouth Korea’s largest online retailer, Coupang, has apologised for a massive data breach potentially involving nearly 34 million local customer accounts.
The country’s internet authority said that it is investigating the breach and that details from the millions of accounts have likely been exposed.
Coupang is often described as South Korea’s equivalent of Amazon.com. The breach marks the latest in a series of data leaks at major firms in the country, including its telecommunications giant, SK Telecom.
Coupang told the BBC it became aware of the unauthorised access of personal data of about 4,500 customer accounts on 18 November and immediately reported it to the authorities.
But later checks found that some 33.7 million customer accounts – all in South Korea – were likely exposed, said Coupang, adding that the breach is believed to have begun as early as June through a server based overseas.
The exposed data is limited to name, email address, phone number, shipping address and some order histories, Coupang said.
No credit card information or login credentials were leaked. Those details remain securely protected and no action is required from Coupang users at this point, the firm added.
The number of accounts affected by the incident represents more than half of South Korea’s roughly-52 million population.
Coupang, which is founded in South Korea and headquartered in the US, said recently that it had nearly 25 million active users.
Coupang apologised to its customers and warned them to stay alert to scams impersonating the company.
The firm did not give details on who is behind the breach.
South Korean media outlets reported on Sunday that a former Coupang employee from China was suspected of being behind the breach.
The authorities are assessing the scale of the breach as well as whether Coupang had broken any data protection safety rules, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said in a statement.
“As the breach involves the contact details and addresses of a large number of citizens, the Commission plans to conduct a swift investigation and impose strict sanctions if it finds a violation of the duty to implement safety measures under the Protection Act.”
The incident marks the latest in a series of breaches affecting major South Korean companies this year, despite the country’s reputation for stringent data privacy rules.
SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile operator, was fined nearly $100m (£76m) over a data breach involving more than 20 million subscribers.
In September, Lotte Cards also said the data of nearly three million customers was leaked after a cyber-attack on the credit card firm.
Agency workers hired to cover Birmingham bin strikers will join them on picket lines on Monday, a union has said.
A rally will be held by Unite The Union at Smithfield Depot on Pershore Street, Birmingham, on Monday morning to mark the first day of strike action by agency refuse workers.
Unite said the Job & Talent agency workers had voted in favour of strike action “over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago”.
The union said the number of agency workers who will join the strike action is “growing daily”.
Strikes by directly-employed bin workers, which have been running since January, could continue beyond May’s local elections.
The directly-employed bin workers voted in favour of extending their industrial action mandate earlier this month.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Birmingham council will only resolve this dispute when it stops the appalling treatment of its workforce.
“Agency workers have now joined with directly-employed staff to stand up against the massive injustices done to them.
“Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers.
“Strikes will not end until it does.”
Stock Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs; Bank Nifty Climbs 60,000 For The First Time
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