Business
OGRA dismisses reports of Rs73 petrol, Rs84 diesel hike as ‘completely baseless’ | The Express Tribune
People wait for their turn to get fuel at a petrol station in Peshawar. Photo: Reuters/ File
KARACHI:
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday rejected reports circulating on social media claiming a Rs73 increase in petrol prices and a Rs84 increase in diesel prices.
OGRA spokesperson Imran Ghaznavi told The Express Tribune that messages claiming a significant rise in petrol prices had no basis. “The message circulating on social media regarding an increase in petrol prices is completely false and misleading. No such summary has been sent by the OGRA to the prime minister,” he said.
“The public is advised not to rely on unverified social media forwards and to follow only official announcements issued by the Government of Pakistan or OGRA through verified channels,” he added.
The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) had reported rumours circulating on social media about a petrol price increase of Rs73.40 and a possible diesel hike, which OGRA rejected.
A day earlier, while announcing austerity measures in the wake of the Middle East crisis, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said petrol prices were expected to rise internationally in the coming days, but the government would try not to pass the burden on to the public.
Commenting on the recent increase in fuel prices, he said the government had been forced to raise oil prices in recent days, which he acknowledged was “undoubtedly a very difficult decision”. “I was advised to raise petrol prices much more than what was eventually announced, but I chose a middle path,” he added.
Read More: PM Shehbaz announces 4-day work week
Last Friday, the government increased the petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre or 20%, signaling his government’s willingness to preempt any crisis. However, the increase in petrol prices was Rs23 per litre more than the need and the government went on to earn more revenues rather than sticking to the principle of just recovering the international oil prices from the domestic consumers.
The sharp increase has intensified the cost of living, with residents reporting higher transport fares and rising prices of daily-use items.
People also reported disputes at petrol pumps, where attendants were refusing to dispense fuel worth less than one litre. According to residents, many customers asked for petrol worth Rs150 or Rs200, but pump staff declined, saying the nozzle rate is fixed and fuel is either dispensed in smaller or larger quantities, leading to frequent arguments.
The rise in petrol prices also pushed up the cost of fruits, vegetables and other daily necessities. Shopkeepers said the transport cost of bringing fruits, vegetables and goods had previously been around Rs1,000 per trip but had now increased to between Rs2,500 and Rs3,000.
Drivers providing pick-and-drop services for schoolchildren have also raised their fares, with residents saying the entire burden has shifted to the public.
Home sales made a small gain to start the year, but higher mortgage rates now could throw cold water on the spring season.
Existing home sales in February rose 1.7% from January to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 4.09 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 1.4% from February of last year.
This count represents closed sales, so deals were likely inked in December and January, when mortgage rates fell a bit and stayed solidly in a low range near 6% on the 30-year-fixed mortgage. Rates were about a full percentage point higher the year before.
“Despite the modest gain in home sales, actual housing demand remains muted relative to wage growth and job gains,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said in a release. “Wage growth is now outpacing home price growth by almost four percentage points. Mortgage rates are also measurably lower compared to a year ago.”
Yun also noted that there are over 6 million more jobs now than there were in 2019, yet home sales per year are down by 1 million.
Lower mortgage rates helped improve affordability slightly, but low inventory is still a significant headwind. There were 1.29 million units for sale at the end of February, an increase of 2.4% from January and 4.9% from February 2025. At the current sales pace, that is a 3.8-month supply, unchanged from January. A six-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyer and seller.
More sellers who delisted their homes last fall, due to slower sales and weak consumer confidence, are relisting their homes now, according to Redfin, a real estate brokerage. Nearly 45,000 homes that were delisted last year were relisted for sale in January. That is the highest January figure since Redfin began tracking this metric a decade ago and represents a record 3.6% of homes that were on the market in January.
“Inventory is growing, but sluggishly,” Yun said. “If demand picks up notably in the coming months and outpaces supply growth, home prices will inevitably rise. That is why increasing supply is so important to help limit home price growth, improve housing affordability, and boost transactions.”
Tight supply, however, is keeping prices just barely higher. The median price of a home sold in February was $398,000, an increase of 0.3% year over year. Sales continue to be strongest in the highest price category, properties listed at $1 million or above. Sales were down sharply on the lowest end of the market.
It continues to take longer to sell a home, at 47 days, up from 42 days one year ago. First-time buyers represented 34% of total sales, an increase from 31% a year ago. Investors made up 16% of sales, unchanged from a year ago.
Business
FDA approves leucovorin as first drug for rare genetic disorder, after touting it as autism treatment
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a decades-old prescription vitamin called leucovorin as the first treatment for a rare genetic disorder in certain adults and children.
The move comes months after the Trump administration touted leucovorin as a potential therapy for a broader group of patients with autism spectrum disorder symptoms. The claim sparked skepticism among some in the medical and research community, but fueled excitement among families, spiking prescriptions of the drug in the U.S.
One FDA official told reporters Monday that “we don’t have sufficient data to say that we could establish efficacy for autism more broadly” but said the agency is open to interest from companies in studying leucovorin in the autism population.
The medication, also referred to as folinic acid, is a synthetic form of vitamin B9 that has been used to treat the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Just a handful of small trials have suggested that leucovorin could be effective as an off-label treatment for children with autism, and some families have reported that it helped their nonverbal kids develop more language and social skills.
FDA officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the decision, told reporters Monday that they started with a broad review of leucovorin as an autism treatment before narrowing its approval to a smaller population with cerebral folate deficiency, a rare genetic mutation that prevents folate – a key vitamin – from properly reaching the brain.
The condition shares overlapping features with autism, typically develops in young children under age 2 and can cause severe developmental delays, seizures, a lack of muscle control and other serious neurological complications.
The officials said the FDA found that using leucovorin in patients with that condition produced the “highest quality data” to support an expanded approval, which will apply to both generic versions of the drug and GSK’s old branded medication, Wellcovorin.
“That was the data where we saw the largest effect sizes,” one FDA official said on the call. “So we narrowed in on that population, just because we felt like that was the strongest both scientific rationale and also the largest treatment effects that could be used to then overcome some of the limitations in the data sources.”
The approval was based on a systematic review of published literature on the area, including patient case reports, but not a randomized controlled clinical trial. The same official acknowledged there can be biases with systematic reviews, but emphasized that the treatment effects were so large that they outweighed those concerns.
The FDA is encouraging existing manufacturers of leucovorin to increase production to match higher demand for the drug, the officials added. While GSK originally marketed the drug from 1983 until 1997, the company said in September that it has no plans to relaunch and manufacture the product itself.
In a release Tuesday, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the approval demonstrates the FDA’s commitment to “rapidly identifying effective treatments for ultra rare diseases while maintaining the same evidentiary standards for approval.”
White House contradicts claim of US Navy escort in Hormuz Strait
White House contradicts claim of US Navy escort in Hormuz Strait
US Olympic skating power couple Madison Chock, Evan Bates withdraw from world championship
-
Politics3 days agoIndia let Iran warship dock the day US sank another off Sri Lanka, say officials
-
Sports4 days agoPakistan set for FIH Pro League debut | The Express Tribune
-
Entertainment3 days agoHarry Styles kicks off new era with ‘One Night Only’ comeback show
-
Business3 days agoRestaurant group changes name after bid to buys pubs across the UK
-
Business1 week agoLabour parliamentarians urge UK Government to oppose Rosebank oil field
-
Business4 days agoHome heating oil: ‘Most of my pension has gone on home heating oil’
-
Sports4 days agoWinners and losers of the 2026 NHL trade deadline
-
Sports1 week agoUSA vs. Argentina (Mar 1, 2026) Live Score – ESPN