Thursday, May 21 2026

Pakistan, Kenya pledge to double bilateral trade within five years
Reaffirming their commitment to significantly expanding bilateral economic ties, Pakistan and Kenya agreed on Thursday to double the volume of bilateral trade over the next five years. This was vowed during the second session of the Pakistan-Kenya Joint Trade Committee (JTC) held in Islamabad, as per a statement. The session was co-chaired by Jawad Paul, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and Regina A. Ombam, Principal Secretary, State Department for Trade, Republic of Kenya, with participation from representatives of various government departments from both countries.
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IMF mission ends, FY2027 budget talks to continue 'in the coming days'
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue discussions on the federal budget for fiscal year 2027 in the coming days, following the conclusion of a staff-level visit in which both sides reviewed recent economic developments, fiscal targets, and progress on reforms under the country’s ongoing loan programmes. An IMF mission led by Iva Petrova concluded its staff visit to Islamabad between May 13-20, 2026. The staff visit focused on recent economic developments, reform implementation, and the budget strategy for fiscal year (FY) 2027. “We had constructive discussions with the authorities on recent economic developments, including the impact of ongoing disruptions from the conflict in the Middle East, the FY2027 budget formulation
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Wednesday, May 20 2026

Buying continues at bourse, KSE-100 up 500 points in early trade
Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after US President Donald Trump again asserted the war with Iran will end “very quickly”, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Wednesday. At 9:30am, the benchmark index was hovering at 163,459.05, a gain of 562.37 points or 0.35%. Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, PPL, FFC and EFERT, traded in the green.
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Service Long March Tyres raises Rs5.83bn in PSX book-building
In its initial public offering (IPO), Service Long March Tyres Limited (SLM) has raised Rs5.83 billion by selling 292.30 million shares at Rs19.95 per share in its two-day book-building process at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). On the first day on Monday, the IPO was fully subscribed within the first 5 seconds of opening, marking one of the fastest-ever book building transactions in the history of the PSX. The company sold its shares to institutional and high-net worth individual investors in the two-day Dutch bidding (book building) process culminated on Tuesday.
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Govt invites bids for privatisation of FESCO, GEPCO, IESCO
The government has invited expressions of interest (EOIs) from local and foreign investors for the privatisation of three major power distribution companies, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company, Gujranwala Electric Power Company and Islamabad Electric Supply Company, as part of its broader energy sector reform agenda. According to a statement issued by the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday, investors will have the opportunity to acquire between 51 percent and 100 percent shareholding along with management control in each of the three distribution companies. The commission said the move is aimed at improving operational efficiency, enhancing service delivery, attracting domestic and foreign investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the country’s power sector.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators power-gen-dist