Business
Finance minister sees ‘scope’ for interest rate cut by year-end – SUCH TV
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday expressed optimism that there was scope to reduce the monetary policy rate before the end of this year. Speaking at an event in Islamabad, Aurangzeb acknowledged that decisions on the policy rate and exchange rate rest with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and its Monetary Policy Committee.
However, he said, “In my personal view, there is still room for further cuts, and I am hopeful that before the year concludes, we will see the rate moving downward.”
The SBP has kept the interest rate steady at 11pc since May, following a cumulative cut of 1,000bps from 22pc since June 2024.
The decision has drawn criticism from the business community, which had expected deeper reductions.
Aurangzeb added that both average and core inflation trends suggest space for easing the rate, stressing that “economic stability and national security go hand in hand.”
He hailed the “brave armed forces” for their success during Marka-i-Haq the name given to the period of conflict with India in May, when Pakistan responded to Indian aggression.
“In the past 1.5 years, we have made strong progress on the economic front,” he noted, listing: “Increase in the country’s economy and per capita income, stability in the economic sector, record decrease in financial deficit and inflation, improvement in current account surplus and external account, record increase in foreign exchange reserves and remittances.”
Aurangzeb also highlighted a “double-digit increase” in exports in the textile, IT and pharmaceutical sectors.
Observing an improved “local business environment”, he added: “SME loans have increased by 41pc.
Should it be even higher? The answer is yes. But 41pc is not a small or insignificant number.”
“Loans in the agricultural sector have crossed the Rs2.5 trillion figure. Private sector loans have increased by 38pc,” he added.
The finance czar explained that once fiscal discipline is achieved, the government’s borrowing requirement will decrease, and bank and other economic institutions will reach out to the private sector.
He added that the government had reduced its debt servicing by Rs1tr in the past year. “God-willing, our debt servicing will go down by more than 1tr this year as well.”
The supply chain risk designation of the artificial intelligence firm is a first for a US company.
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UniQure needs to run another study to prove that its gene therapy “actually helps people with Huntington’s disease,” a senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said on a call with reporters Thursday.
The official, who requested anonymity before discussing sensitive information, confirmed the agency has asked the company to run a placebo controlled trial of its treatment, which is administered directly into the brain. UniQure has said that type of study isn’t ethical because it would require putting people under general anesthesia for hours, a characterization the official disputed.
“So what is really going on? UniQure is the latest company to make a failed therapy for Huntington’s patients,” the official said. “They likely acknowledge or understand at some deep level that their trial failed years ago, and instead of doing the right thing and running the correct clinical study, UniQure is performing a distorted or manipulated comparison in the mind of FDA.”
The comments mark the latest development in a messy public spat between UniQure and the FDA, and as the agency comes under fire for a number of recent drug approval application rejections, including some where companies have accused it of going back on previous guidance. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick last week seemingly criticized UniQure’s gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. Makary didn’t name UniQure but described its treatment.
UniQure then accused the FDA of reversing its stance that the company’s clinical trial data would be sufficient to seek approval. UniQure’s study used an outside database to measure how patients with Huntington’s disease might decline without treatment, known as an external control. UniQure has said it wouldn’t be feasible to run a true randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, considered the gold standard, because it wouldn’t be ethical to make people undergo a sham hours-long brain surgery.
The FDA official said the agency “never agreed to accept this distorted comparison” and the FDA “never makes such assurances.” Instead, the “FDA will always say, ‘Well, we have to see the data when we get it.'”
UniQure didn’t immediately comment.
The company’s stock rose more than 10% on Thursday and has fallen 58% this year as of Thursday afternoon.
Business
US mortgage rates rise to 6% after three-week slide as oil-driven bond yields climb – The Times of India
The average long-term US mortgage rate edged higher this week, ending a three-week decline as bond yields rose amid oil-price pressures linked to the war with Iran.The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6% from 5.98% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday. A year ago, the average rate stood at 6.63%, AP reported.The modest uptick breaks a three-week slide in borrowing costs, with mortgage rates having hovered close to the 6% mark for most of this year. Last week’s average had marked the first time the rate dipped below 6% since September 2022, reaching its lowest level in nearly three and a half years.Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy, investor expectations about inflation and economic growth, and movements in the bond market.They typically track the direction of the 10-year US Treasury yield, which lenders use as a benchmark for pricing home loans.The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.14% at midday Thursday, up from around 4% a week earlier.Treasury yields have moved higher in recent days as rising oil prices added fresh inflation concerns, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut interest rates.
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