Monday, April 20 2026

IMF says ME war to deepen economic divide in Latin America, Caribbean
The war in the Middle East is likely to widen economic differences across Latin America and the Caribbean, giving some short-term support to oil exporters while worsening the outlook for tourism-reliant Caribbean economies and energy-importing countries in Central America, the IMF said on Friday. The warning, issued in a blog post, follows the release earlier this week of the global lender’s updated World Economic Outlook, which projected that the Latin America and Caribbean region would grow 2.3 percent in 2026, little changed from 2.4 percent in 2025, before picking up to 2.7 percent in 2027. Brazil, the region’s largest economy, is forecast to grow 1.9 percent this year, while Mexico is expected to expand by 1.6 percent.
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Need stressed to boost trade among SAARC nations
Pakistan’s business community has called for stronger regional trade integration among South Asian nations, noting that intra-regional trade within SAARC countries remains limited to just 5 percent despite vast potential. Rafique Suleman, spokesperson for the Businessmen Panel (BMP) South and former Chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has congratulated the leadership of SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s (SAARC CCI), particularly Anjum Nisar Vice President SAARC Chamber, for the completion and inauguration of the SAARC Chamber headquarters in Islamabad. He said this is a positive development for the regional trade promotion as the newly established SAARC headquarter would help facilitate trade, policy dialogue, and research-driven initiatives.
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Business activities: ‘Banks must introduce maximum facilitation’
The business community and the banking sector are closely interconnected, and commercial banks must introduce maximum facilitation to support business activities. This was stated by Syed Salman Ali, Convener of the Standing Committee on Banking Affairs at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), while presiding over a committee meeting. Former LCCI Senior Vice President Ali Hissam Asghar, Syed Mardan Ali Zaidi, and LCCI Executive Committee Members Aamir Ali, Karamat Ali Awan, and Waqas Aslam also addressed the meeting. Other participants included Hammad Khalid, Ramzan Ahmed Raja Shakeel, Muhammad Shahid, Imran Khan, Muhammad Yaseen, Sheikh Aamir Habib, Syed Fahad, Najeeb Chughtai, Imran Asghar, and Kashif Bhatti.
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Gold falls on stronger dollar amid renewed US-Iran tensions
Gold prices inched lower on Monday as the dollar firmed, while ‌news the Strait of Hormuz is closed again pushed oil prices higher and revived inflation fears. Spot gold was down 0.4% at $4,809.71 per ounce, as of 0155 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since April 13 earlier ​in the session. U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 1% to $4,829.40. “Gold prices ​are lower today after the U.S.-Iran war ceasefire that markets celebrated last ⁠week appeared to be breaking down,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. “That ​has revived the now-familiar ‘war trade’ dynamics we’ve seen since the beginning of the conflict. Crude oil ​prices gained, which echoed into inflation expectation and drove up both yields and the U.S. dollar.”
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Dollar hits one-week high as Middle East tensions reignite
The US dollar firmed to its highest level in ​a week against major currencies on Monday as renewed US-Iran tensions and shaky prospects of a peace deal in the Middle ‌East sent investors toward safe havens. The United States said on Sunday that it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade while Iran said it would retaliate amid growing worries of a resumption of hostilities. Tehran also said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the U.S. had hoped ​to kick off before its two-week ceasefire with Iran expires on Tuesday. “The weekend escalation revives the geopolitical risk premium just as markets ​had started pricing a peace dividend,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, adding that higher oil “is not ⁠just an energy story, it is a growth-and-rates story.” The euro slipped 0.14% to $1.1746 and sterling fell 0.29% to $1.3479. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar sank ​0.3% to $0.7145 in early trading.
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