IMF loan, payout hopes drive PSX to record high
Sources involved in discussions with the IMF revealed to The Express Tribune that the IMF is not allowing Pakistan to significantly reduce interest rates in the next fiscal year, which will keep the government’s budgetary constraints high. Photo: REUTERS
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) marked another historic day on Wednesday as it broke record and crossed the 80,000-point mark, buoyed by expectations of handsome dividend payouts and clinching a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in about a month.
The upward momentum was also driven by trade numbers, which showed an increase of 10.54% in exports to $30.7 billion and the narrowing of trade deficit by 12.3% to $24.09 billion in the just-ended fiscal year 2023-24.
Earlier, trading commenced with a spike as investors snapped stocks over hopes of securing a new IMF programme. The KSE-100 index reached its intra-day high of 80,405.24 points at midday