Friday, June 12 2026

Stocks extend rally on Gulf breakthrough hopes, oil near two-month lows
Asian stocks joined a global rally on Friday on hopes a Middle East peace deal may finally ​materialise, while the dollar and bond yields dropped and oil prices fell to two-month lows, tempering inflation fears. All eyes are on the ‌hotly-awaited market debut of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has made history with the biggest-ever initial public offering. The IPO raised a record $75 billion, valuing the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer at $1.77 trillion and making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a peace deal could be signed as soon as this weekend, hours after threatening more strikes on ​Iran. He said negotiations with Tehran had advanced to the highest levels of Iran’s leadership and had been approved by a broad coalition ​of regional powers.
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Economic Survey: Pakistan’s unemployment rose to 7.1%
Pakistan’s unemployment rate rose to 7.1% in 2024-25, up from 6.3% a year earlier, even as the country’s economy returned to growth, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 released by the Finance Ministry on Thursday. According to the latest Labour Force Survey 2024-25, released in the Economic Survey 2025-26, the working-age population increased from 159.8 million to 179.6 million, reflecting Pakistan’s expanding labour supply. The employed labour force also rose from 67.25 million to 77.2 million, indicating an increase in employment opportunities during the period. “At the same time, the number of unemployed persons increased from 4.51 million to 5.9 million, with the unemployment rate rising from 6.3% to 7.1%, highlighting the need to further accelerate job creation in line with labour force growth,” read the report.
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Banking sector shows steady performance
The banking sector of Pakistan has demonstrated steady performance with key financial soundness indicators pointing to stability in capital adequacy, earnings, and asset quality. Economic Survey of Pakistan for the year 2025-26 also highlighted that the financial sector has maintained resilience amid broader economic pressures, underscoring gradual improvements in overall banking sector fundamentals. According to survey, the banking sector’s asset base grew by 17.8 percent YoY during CY2025, reaching Rs 63.2 trillion by the end of December 2025, mainly driven by investments. On the funding side, deposit growth accelerated to 24.7 percent to Rs 37.659 trillion by end of December 2025. Deposits remained the mainstay of funding, financing 62.7 percent of the asset base, while borrowings financed 25.1 percent.
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Pakistan to announce FY2026-27 budget today
Pakistan’s budget for the next financial year 2026-27 will be presented today (Friday) at National Assembly. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will present the budget. The government had earlier indicated that the budget would be presented on June 10 after revising the schedule from its initial plan. The upcoming budget is expected to outline the government’s fiscal priorities, revenue measures and expenditure plans for FY27 amid ongoing efforts to stabilise the economy and sustain growth. On Thursday, the government unveiled the Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) for FY2025-26, according to which GDP growth was recorded at 3.7% in the outgoing fiscal year. The growth was higher than last year’s growth of 3.18% but well short of its target of 4.2% announced in the last year’s budget.
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IT exports fetch USD3.38bn in July-March
Pakistan’s IT sector emerged as a key source of foreign exchange in FY2026, with ICT export remittances increasing by 19.7 percent to USD 3.38 billion during July-March, compared with USD 2.83 billion in the same period last year, according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2025-26 released on Thursday. The country also formally moved toward the 5G era through a spectrum auction worth around USD 509.6 million. However, the Survey indicates that the real test now lies in expanding fiber infrastructure, strengthening cybersecurity and introducing forward-looking regulation to support next-generation connectivity and sustain Pakistan’s digital growth momentum.
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