July | Pakistan

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has recorded a tax revenue shortfall of Rs429 billion during the July–February period of the current fiscal year, including an Rs85 billion gap in February alone, according to official documents.

ISLAMABAD: A larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reaffirmed in a detailed judgement on Monday that the chief justice was the sole “master of the roster”, ruling that a July 2025 order by Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan in the Aafia Siddiqui case was recalled for being issued by a forum that was not “lawfully constituted”. Last year in July, Justice Khan had issued contempt notices to the prime minister and the entire federal cabinet over non-compliance with the court’s directions in a petition filed by Dr Fowzia Siddiqui seeking the release of her sister, Dr Aafia, from a US prison. However, the registrar’s office did not execute the notices because the judge was not included in the duty roster approved by the chief justice. Later, the court registrar’s report had recommended that a larger bench should address questions concerning the validity of the July 21 hearing. The central issue identified was that Justice Khan’s bench was not authorised to hear cases on July 21. The weekly roster approved by ...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha pre-arrest bail in a case pertaining to a protest by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) that dates back to July 2025 and resurfaced a day earlier. The two had filed pre-arrest bail applications in the case. However, their bail pleas could not be taken up on an urgent basis on Tuesday while the couple struggled to avoid arrest. The couple took refuge in the IHCBA president’s office, where they spent the whole night, while a large number of police officials remained outside the premises. During the hearing on Wednesday, Justice Muhammad Azam Khan of the IHC took up the pre-arrest application and approved Mazari and Chattha’s bail against surety bonds of Rs10,000 each. Advocate Kamran Murtaza appeared on behalf of the petitioners, and a large number of lawyers and officials from the IHCBA were present in the courtroom in solidarity with the applicants. Addressing the cour...

The work on the Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project is expected to begin in July 2026 from the Karachi Port, said Minister of Railways Hanif Abbasi on Tuesday. The ML-1 project aims to upgrade and modernise key infrastructure to enhance freight and passenger connectivity from Karachi to Peshawar. Last month, a review meeting on the key Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects was also informed that the project will begin in July this year. According to a press release issued today, Abbasi, in a meeting with the Chairman Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Rear Admiral (retd) Shahid Ahmed, on January 9, said that the construction of the project will begin from the Karachi Port, starting in July. During the meeting, he informed chairman KPT that under the project, a 54-kilometre railway section from “KPT to Pipri will be upgraded to ensure seamless cargo movement”. The two also discussed “measures for strengthening the railway system for efficient cargo transportation from Karachi Port”. Reduction of congestion ...

More than 1,000 patients have died while waiting for urgent medical evacuation from war-ravaged Gaza in the last year and a half, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the UN agency and its partners had “evacuated over 10,600 patients from Gaza with severe health conditions, including over 5,600 children” since the start of the war more than two years ago. But he warned that “many more patients remain in Gaza awaiting evacuation to receive appropriate healthcare”. Citing numbers from the health ministry in Gaza, Tedros said that 1,092 patients were known to have died while awaiting medical evacuation just between July 2024 and November 28, 2025. “This figure is likely underreported,” he warned, calling on “more countries to open doors to patients from Gaza, and for medical evacuation to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be restored”. “Lives depend on it.” The WHO has previously estimated that more than 16,500 patients still need treat...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in India on Wednesday, months after London and New Delhi signed a landmark free trade agreement, capping years of intense negotiations. Starmer’s first official trip to India, which he hopes will boost economic ties between the two nations, sees him accompanied by a 125-member delegation that includes top business leaders including British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle. The two-day visit follows his July meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in London, where the pair signed the trade accord. Starmer is due to meet Modi tomorrow, and address a fintech conference in Mumbai alongside him. “With India set to be the third biggest economy in the world by 2028, and trade with them about to become quicker and cheaper, the opportunities waiting to be seized are unparalleled,” Starmer said in a statement. India and its former colonial ruler are the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies, with bilateral trade worth around $54.8 billion and investments suppo...

The National Elec­t­ric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday notified a negative fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of Rs1.79 per unit for consumers in September’s bills for power consumed in the month of July. According to a notification issued by Nepra today, the authority “decided to allow a negative FCA of Rs1.7859/kWh for July 2025, to be passed on to the consumers in the billing month of September 2025”. Nepra said the negative FCA would apply to all consumer categories of K-Electric and XWDiscos (ex-Wapda distribution companies) “except lifeline consumers, domestic protected consumers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and prepaid electricity consumers of all categories who opted for pre-paid tariff”. The adjustment would be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers in the respective month to which the adjustment pertains, it said. “In case any bills of September 2025 are issued before the notification of this decision, the same may be applied in th...

REER index appreciates to 98.6 in July 2025 while rupee extends winning streak

The National Institutes of Health on Tuesday confirmed the presence of poliovirus in 42 of 117 sewage samples collected from 87 districts across the country in July. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress. According to a press release issued by NIH’s Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication, out of 127 sewage samples, the institute “confirmed 75 sewage samples as negative and 42 as positive”, while the remaining 10 were still being processed in the lab. The positive results made up nearly 36 per cent of the total samples, compared to 32pc for June, based on NIH press releases. However, the NIH said: “While the overall trend shows a decline in positive detections, reflecting the impact of high-quality campaigns, the virus continues to circulate in certain areas.” “July data shows steady progr...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan received $3.2 billion in workers’ remittances during July 2025, reflecting a 7.4% year-on-year increase, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Friday. According to the central bank, the inflows were primarily sourced from major overseas employment destinations, with the highest contributions coming from Saudi Arabia (US$823.7 million), United Arab Emirates (US$665.2 million), […]

Remittances from overseas Pakistani workers went up by 7.4 per cent on year-on-year basis for the month of July, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Friday. Every month, millions of overseas Pakistanis send money home. These remittances are now a cornerstone of Pakistan’s balance-of-payments, hitting a record $4.1 billion during March alone. “Workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $3.2bn during July 2025,” a press release by the SBP read. According to the data released by the bank, the inflows were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($823.7 million), United Arab Emirates ($665.2m), United Kingdom ($450.4m) and the US ($269.6m). Last month, SBP’s data showed that workers’ remittances increased by 26.6pc to hit a record $38.3bn during the fiscal year 2025 as compared to the corresponding period of last year. It added that the workers’ remittances went up by 7.9pc to $3.406bn in June 2025, compared to $3.158bn during the same month last year. FY25 proved to be a relatively successful year for the governme...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened to $2.75 billion in July 2025, marking a 16.02% increase compared to June 2025, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Pakistan’s exports also witnessed an increase of 16.91 percent during the first month of the current fiscal year (July) as compared to the […]

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has achieved a historic milestone by registering a record 4,065 companies in July 2025—the highest monthly registrations to date, surpassing the previous record of 3,609 set in May 2025. The SECP noted that 99.9% of incorporations were processed digitally, reflecting continued progress in streamlining regulatory procedures […]

Pakistan witnessed a slight uptick in militant violence in July after a brief decline last month, according to the latest monthly security report released by the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss) on Friday. In June, there were a total of 78 militant attacks across the country, resulting in at least 100 fatalities, including 53 security personnel, 39 civilians, six militants, and two members of peace committees, the organisation said in a press statement. These attacks injured 189 people, comprising 126 security personnel and 63 civilians — marking an eight per cent decrease in attacks, a 12pc drop in fatalities, and 4pc increase in injuries compared to May 2025. Friday’s report documented 82 militant attacks across the country during July, resulting in 101 fatalities and 150 injuries. According to a Picss statement, those killed in militant attacks included 47 civilians, 36 security personnel, and 18 militants. Among the injured were 90 civilians, 52 secur...

Data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday showed that consumer inflation accelerated to 4.1 per cent year-on-year in July, up from 3.2pc in June, driven by rising prices for food items, fuels and medicines. July’s consumer price inflation month-on-month was 2.9pc, the bureau said. The finance ministry on Monday had projected consumer inflation for July to remain in a range of 3.5-4.5pc, citing stable prices and improved supply conditions, as price pressures ease further after the previous fiscal year’s sharp decline. The higher inflation reading follows the State Bank of Pakistan’s assessment of a deteriorating inflation outlook, leading it to leave the key interest rate unchanged at 11pc. The bank’s monetary policy committee said on Wednesday that energy prices, particularly for gas, had risen more than expected, and it considered the real policy rate should be adequately positive to keep inflation in the 5-7pc target range. Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index, had r...

The finance ministry on Monday projected consumer inflation for July to remain in a range of 3.5-4.5 per cent, citing stable prices and improved supply conditions, as price pressures ease further after the previous fiscal year’s sharp decline. Inflation stood at 3.2pc in June, the ministry said in its monthly economic report, while average inflation for the fiscal year ending June 30 dropped to 4.49pc, a nine-year low, from 23.4pc the year before. The country’s fiscal year begins on July 1. The ministry said the economy is expected to sustain its recovery in the early months of fiscal year 2026, underpinned by an improved macroeconomic backdrop and growing investor confidence. Large-scale manufacturing likely maintained momentum in June, supported by rising private sector credit offtake and expanding production activity, the report said. The rebound is expected to lift imports of raw materials and intermediate goods, while aiding value-added exports, it added. Strengthening domestic demand, a stable exchange ...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast rainfall in southeastern Sindh and several other districts on July 30 and 31, with occasional gaps, while widespread monsoon activity is expected across the country starting July 27.

• Fifth monsoon spell to hit Punjab; urban flooding feared • Landslides may block roads in Murree, Galiyat, GB, AJK • Karakoram Highway blocked again; tourists evacuated via C-130 flights RAWALPINDI / LAHORE / GILGIT: The Pakistan Meteo­rological Department (PMD) has forecast another spell of monsoon rains across the country from July 29 to 31, urging provincial and district administrations to take precautionary measures. According to the Met Office, weak monsoon currents are continuously penetrating the upper and central parts of the country and are likely to intensify next week. A westerly wave is expected to approach on July 29. Rain accompanied by wind and isolated heavy showers is expected in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (including Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Poonch, Hattian, Bagh, Haveli, Sudhanoti, Kotli, Bhimber, Mirpur) and Gilgit-Baltistan (Diamer, Astore, Ghizer, Skardu, Hunza, Gilgit, Ghanche, Shigar) from July 27 to 31 with occasional gaps. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rain and thundershowers are...

With slim chances of moon visibility due to monsoon clouds and astronomical conditions, the beginning of Safar 1447 AH is expected to fall on Sunday, July 27, 2025, according to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to visit Pakistan on July 26, according to a statement by Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, as reported by Tasnim News.