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The local fertilizer Industry is providing urea at around 84 percent discount, equivalent to Rs 9,823 per bag and is expected to enable import substitution of USD 5.3 billion in 2022. Discussing the latest business results and future outlook in first quarter analyst briefing, Imran Ahmed – Chief Financial Officer of Engro Fertilizers shared that the fertilizer sector is passing on a benefit of Rs 900 billion per annum to farmers through the provision of urea at significant discount to current global prices. Read more:  Oil stabilises after big drop on IMF growth cut Over the last 10 years, the industry is passed on benefit of over Rs 1.4 trillion to the farmers through lower urea prices. This amount is four times higher the benefit that industry has received through gas pricing under the Fertilizer Policy 2001. At the same time, the industry has been playing a significant role towards reducing the country’s trade and fiscal deficit as the country is self-sufficient in urea produc

An unexpectedly sharp drop in subscribers has Netflix considering changes it has long resisted: Minimizing password sharing and creating a low-cost subscription supported by advertising. Looming changes announced late Tuesday are designed to help Netflix regain momentum lost over the past year. Pandemic-driven lockdowns that drove binge-watching have lifted, while deep-pocketed rivals such as Apple and Walt Disney have begun to chip away at its vast audience with their own streaming services. Read more:  Scientists: Water on Jupiter's moon closer to surface than thought Netflix’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March quarter, the first contraction the streaming service has seen since it became available throughout most of the world other than China six years ago. The drop stemmed in part from Netflix’s decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers. Netflix projected a loss of another

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook Report. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook report predicts that Pakistan s economic growth, inflation and current account deficit targets will not be met this year. According to the report, the economic growth rate is projected to be 4 percent against the target of 4.8 percent this year and 4.2 percent next year. The GDP growth was 5.6 percent in the last fiscal year. Read more:  Foreign funding case: PTI questions 'incomplete' ECP's powers   According to the report, inflation in Pakistan is likely to remain in double digits of 11.2 percent this year while the government had set an annual target of average inflation of 8 percent. In addition, the current account deficit will reach 5.3 percent of GDP, while the target was set at 0.7 percent. On the other hand, the current account deficit is expected to reach about $19 billion. According to the IMF s World Economic Outlook report, the unemploym

Ridges that criss-cross the icy surface of Jupiter s moon Europa indicate there are shallow pockets of water beneath, boosting hopes in the search for extra-terrestrial life, scientists said Tuesday. Europa has long been a candidate for finding life in our solar system due to its vast ocean, which is widely thought to contain liquid water -- a key ingredient for life. Read more:  New WhatsApp feature for all countries under development There is a problem: the ocean is predicted to be buried 25-30 kilometres (15-17 miles) beneath the moon s icy shell. However water could be closer to the surface than previously thought, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications. The finding came partly by chance, when geophysicists studying an ice sheet in Greenland watched a presentation about Europa and spotted a feature they recognised. "We were working on something totally different related to climate change and its impact on the surface of Greenland when

Asian markets were flat on Wednesday as oil began clawing its way back up from a big drop after the International Monetary Fund downgraded its global growth forecast for 2022. The IMF lowered its outlook to 3.6 percent -- a .08 percent slash from its previous estimate released in January -- prompting a five-percent dive in oil prices on Tuesday. Read more:  Stocks extend losses amid selling pressure The fund pointed to surging energy prices, rising debt, supply-chain woes, and a series of inflationary crises linked to the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic. "The economic effects of the war are spreading far and wide -- like seismic waves that emanate from the epicenter of an earthquake," IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in the report. While oil prices showed their first sign of susceptibility to global economic trends after the announcement, US stocks rallied on the back of promising housing-starts data and solid corporate earnings. "In

Russia on Tuesday called on Ukrainian forces to "immediately" lay down arms and issued a new ultimatum for the defenders of the besieged port city of Mariupol to give up. The Russian defence ministry s warning came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced late on Monday the start of a new offensive by Moscow that is focused on the east of the former Soviet state. "We once again call on the Kyiv authorities to show reason and give the corresponding orders to fighters to cease their senseless resistance," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. Read more:  US looks forward to 'working closely' with Shehbaz govt across regional, international issues "But, understanding that they will not get such instructions and orders from the Kyiv authorities, we call on (the fighters) to voluntarily take this decision and to lay down their arms." The statement made no direct mention of a new ground offensive in eastern Ukraine. But

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appointed 57-year-old economist and businessman Miftah Ismail as the finance minister who will be tasked with quickly arresting a downward economic spiral and getting IMF talks back on track. Ismail, who briefly held the post four years ago, brings with him a record of decisive policy action and a close relationship with the prime minister but faces a daunting array of challenges, from falling foreign currency reserves to soaring inflation and potentially historic deficits. Read more:  PM Shehbaz Sharif's new cabinet finally takes oath He will have limited time to act, with a maximum of 15 months before general elections are due, while they may be called sooner. The former IMF economist, with a PhD in Public Finance and Political Economy from the Wharton School of Business, held the job for a few months in 2018 when he joined a government near the end of its term. In that short period, Ismail scrapped costly government exchange rate controls