The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $1.2 billion disbursement for Pakistan following the second review of the country’s economic reform program under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Under the decision, $1 billion will be released under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both programs to $3.3 billion.

The IMF lauded Pakistan’s policy efforts, noting significant progress in stabilizing the economy and restoring confidence despite global challenges and recent severe floods.

Pakistan achieved a primary fiscal surplus of 1.3% of GDP in FY25, while gross reserves rose to $14.5 billion from $9.4 billion the previous year.

Inflation has increased due to flood-related impacts on food prices but is expected to be temporary.

The approval follows a staff-level agreement in October between Pakistan and the IMF. The lender described programme implementation as “strong” and reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s ongoing economic reforms.

An IMF team, led by Iva Petrova, conducted discussions in Karachi, Islamabad, and Washington, DC, between September 24 and October 8 to finalize the arrangements.

Key priorities highlighted include sustaining fiscal discipline, supporting flood-affected households, maintaining inflation within the State Bank’s target range, restoring energy sector viability, and advancing structural reforms.

The IMF also praised progress on climate initiatives under the RSF, emphasizing that recent floods underscore the need for consistent reforms to mitigate climate risks.

Ahead of the Board meeting, the IMF released its Governance and Corruption Diagnostic (GCD) report, warning that persistent corruption and weak institutions continue to undermine Pakistan’s economic development, despite stabilization under the EFF.

The report highlighted that corruption negatively affects public spending, revenue collection, and trust in the legal system.

The report mentioned that Pakistanis are often compelled to make continuous payments to officials to obtain basic services, while funds lost to corruption could otherwise support higher production and development.

The report read that political and economic elites have obstructed economic development by seizing control of policies and capturing public benefits for their own gain.

Mumbai: Indian stock markets opened sharply lower on Tuesday as investors booked profits after the recent rally.  

Sentiment weakened further after reports suggested that US President Donald Trump may consider imposing new tariffs on Indian rice, raising fresh worries about unresolved trade issues between Washington and New Delhi.

The Sensex slipped 380 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 84,723 in early trade. The Nifty also moved in the same direction, falling 124 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 25,837.

“On the technical front, the Nifty now holds immediate support in the 25,800–25,850 range, while resistance is seen around 26,100–26,150, where repeated intra-day rejection highlights strong overhead supply,” experts said.

“A decisive breakout above this area will be essential for the index to regain upward momentum, while a sustained move below support may extend the ongoing consolidation,” they added.

The tone in the market remained cautious as major heavyweight stocks came under pressure.

Several blue-chip companies led the decline on the Sensex. Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Trent, Eternal, Reliance Industries, TCS, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, M&M, Tata Motors PV, HCL Tech, and BEL were among the top laggards, with losses of up to 2.5 per cent.

Only Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel managed to stay in positive territory on the 30-share index.

The weakness was visible across the broader market as well. The Nifty MidCap index dropped 0.64 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index was down 0.61 per cent.

Sector-wise, the Nifty IT and Metal indices were among the worst performers, slipping 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

The Nifty Auto index also fell 0.8 per cent, while the Realty index declined 0.6 per cent.

Analysts said that the market mood turned cautious as global trade concerns resurfaced, prompting investors to trim their positions and wait for further clarity.

NEW DELHI: Elon Musk’s Starlink on Monday announced inaugural prices for its satellite venture in India and, as expected, these were many times more than a regular high-speed broadband connection that is currently being provided by terrestrial providers such as Airtel and Reliance Jio.The company put a Rs 8,600 monthly tariff for its satcom services in India, with a hefty additional Rs 34,000 as one-time charge for the requisite hardware.However, as its premium pricing started to create hectic chatter on social media, especially when it’s still some time before it can launch services as the govt continues work on satcom spectrum allocation and its charges, the company withdrew the announcement from its website, blaming a “glitch” for making “dummy test data visible. “The Starlink India website is not live, service pricing for customers in India has not yet been announced, and we are not taking orders from customers in India. There was a config glitch that briefly made dummy test data visible, but those numbers do not reflect what the cost of Starlink service will be in India,” Lauren Dreyer, VP of Starlink Business Operations, said on X. “The glitch was quickly fixed. We’re eager to connect the people of India with Starlink’s high-speed internet, and our teams are focused on obtaining final government approvals to turn service (and the website) on,” she said.Earlier in the day, the company said its India services will “work in all weather” with an “over 99.9% uptime”. It promised that the services are easy to initiate. “Just plug in and start using,” the company said, while promising to provide “unlimited data” and a 30-day trial period.However, the prices – if true – would be a far cry to the dirt-cheap tariffs that Indian internet consumers are used to.On mobile phones, the price per GB of data is less than Rs 10, and monthly packages are under Rs 400 for unlimited 5G mobile data, for example on Airtel. For home broadband on optical fibre, the Sunil Mittal-led company charges just Rs 499 per for a connection which comes with a speed of 40MBPS. Not only this, at Rs 599 per month, they also offer 29 OTT streaming services. The installation charges for home broadband are just Rs 1,500 on Airtel, which itself is an advance payment and can be adjusted in future payments.On the other hand, Reliance Jio’s up to 30 MBPS speed entry-level plan for home broadband costs Rs 399 (excluding GST), with a one-time installation charge of Rs 2,500 (of which Rs 1,500 is refundable security).For Starlink, these are early days and despite giving out the consumer prices (though withdrawn now), the company is not in a position to talk about when it will begin services. This is because there is still no clarity on when the spectrum for satellite communications will be provided by the govt.There are currently discussions, and differences of opinion, between regulator Trai and the department of telecom (DoT) — the nodal ministry on communications matters — regarding the charges that satcom companies need to pay to the govt. Until these issues are resolved, there is no chance of a satcom service beginning consumer services in the country.Starlink, however, is in the process of doing the groundwork for beginning services. It has started hiring in India before services begin commercially while also starting work on setting up the requisite ground infrastructure. Also, it needs to get a final approval from the law-enforcement agencies regarding its infrastructure, including mandated interception and data privacy rules, before beginning any commercial operation.It is believed that while having an aspiration to build its business in India’s urban centres, Starlink will initially find higher takers in rural and mobile unserved areas, apart from specialised use cases in strategic areas such as defence, mining, maritime, and enterprises.