Pakistan, Iran to raise power imports beyond 100mw
Pakistan and Iran have agreed to strengthen energy cooperation, with work on a second cross-border transmission line expected to begin soon and discussions underway to expand the current 100 MW electricity supply arrangement, officials said on Thursday.
The development came during a meeting between Federal Minister for Energy (Power Division) Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Iranian Ambassador Dr Reza Amiri Moghaddam in Islamabad.
Moghaddam expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s support during challenging times and highlighted ongoing energy cooperation, including existing transmission infrastructure. He noted that Pakistani energy institutions, including CPPA-G, QESCO and NGC, would be invited to participate in the upcoming session of the Pakistan-Iran Joint Commission in Tehran.
Auto industry policy gridlock persists
The government could not break the gridlock this week over a new auto policy despite the industry ministry showing flexibility to lower the protection wall by up to 52 percent by 2030 against car imports – but the proposed tariffs remained three times higher than the national tariffs.
A ministerial committee, headed by Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari, held several meetings in recent days, including one on Thursday, but did not reach a conclusion on the draft of the auto and parts policy for the 2026-31 period, according to officials privy to these discussions.
The industry ministry, responsible for formulating the auto policy, shared revised proposed tariffs showing flexibility against its earlier position. However, the proposed tariffs, excluding federal excise duty impact, were still up to 300 percent higher than those set under the National Tariff Policy approved by the federal cabinet.
By 2030, the maximum customs duty under the national policy is 15 percent, but the industry ministry has proposed 60 percent for vehicles of 1501 to 1800cc – 300 percent more than the national tariff but 34 percent less than existing tariffs.
State Bank reserves rise $13m
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased $13 million to $17.04 billion during the week ended on July 31, 2026, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.
Pakistan’s total liquid foreign currency reserves stood at $22.47 billion by the end of July, of which the SBP had $17.04 billion while commercial banks held net foreign currency deposits of $5.43 billion. The central bank gave no reason for the increase in its reserves. Arif Habib Limited posted on X that Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves rose $32.5 million to $22.5 billion. Similarly, the commercial banks’ reserves went up $19.4 million and reached $5.4 billion. It mentioned that the current foreign currency holdings at the SBP provided an import cover for 2.51 months.
According to a recent news report, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad said that the central bank bought around $9 billion from the open market in the last fiscal year to cushion the foreign exchange reserves. Total purchases during the past three years reached $28 billion.
CDWP approves space centre project
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Thursday approved seven development projects worth billions of rupees, referring three major initiatives totalling Rs240.537 billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final approval.
The meeting, chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, cleared four projects worth Rs12.437 billion while recommending three mega projects worth Rs240.537 billion to ECNEC.
The most significant project referred to ECNEC was the establishment of Pakistan Space Centre (PSC), sponsored by SUPARCO, worth Rs37.130 billion. The project aims to develop indigenous capability for designing, assembling, integrating, testing and qualifying satellites, reducing Pakistan’s dependence on foreign facilities.
“The project is a key component of the National Space Programme (NSP)-2047,” Iqbal said. “It will strengthen Pakistan’s self-reliance in space technology by enabling cost-effective development of satellites to meet strategic, scientific and socio-economic requirements.” ECNEC will also consider two major infrastructure projects: the Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) 260 MGD Phase-I worth Rs171.814 billion, and the Lahore Water and Waste Water Management Project worth Rs31.592 billion.
Banks required to settle premium prize bond sales daily
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided that banks will settle all Premium Prize Bonds (PPBs) sale transactions on the same day, said a circular issued on Thursday.
The SBP has reviewed the prevailing mechanism for reporting PPB sale transactions and decided to make changes to it.
“The settlement mechanism will involve reporting of sale transactions of PPBs through DAP (Data Acquisition Portal) as per the prescribed timelines,” said the circular.
The SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC) will debit the account of the bank based on the amount of sale reported by the bank concerned on a daily basis.
For critical mineral supplies, us firms look to Pakistan
Amid a big push from the Trump administration to secure global critical mineral supply chains, US companies are exploring opportunities to take over and develop smaller mines in Pakistan, besides looking at more significant investments in larger projects, potentially in copper and other critical minerals such as antimony.
Speaking to journalists at a background briefing, a US Embassy official said the Trump administration had been focusing on critical mineral supply chains around the world, particularly in Pakistan, through multilateral agencies, the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
The official said the US Exim Bank had committed $1.25 billion for the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan, though financing terms were still being finalised.