ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Monday approved the National Housing Policy 2026 along with an action plan for its implementation, directing that housing projects comply fully with zoning laws and that vertical construction be prioritised to make more efficient use of land.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad.

The cabinet was told that the policy had been prepared by a working group made up of national and international experts, and that federal ministries, provincial governments and development partners had been consulted during the drafting process. Its core objective, members were informed, is the provision of sustainable, safe and quality housing for all citizens.

Alongside the zoning and vertical-housing directives, the cabinet instructed that energy-efficiency codes be made an integral part of the National Housing Policy, so that new construction conforms to energy-efficient and environmentally friendly requirements.

Housing projects must comply fully with zoning laws and prioritise vertical construction, cabinet rules

Members were also briefed on progress under the prime minister’s Apna Ghar scheme. The cabinet was informed that various banks had approved loans worth Rs220 billion for applicants seeking to build or purchase homes, and that more than Rs32 billion had already been disbursed to successful applicants.

In a separate decision, the cabinet approved the withdrawal of the notice terminating the 1981 bilateral investment treaty between Pakistan and Sweden. The approval came on a summary submitted to the meeting by the Board of Investment.

The Ministry of Information Technology placed before the cabinet the draft Pakistan Information Security Framework 2026, known as PISF 2026. The cabinet was told that the framework had been prepared under the CERT Rules 2023, and that it seeks to establish a comprehensive and unified system of baseline information-security standards while ensuring central oversight.

Approving the framework, the cabinet described it as an important guiding document for cybersecurity and directed that its effective implementation be ens­ured within the prescribed timeframe.

The cabinet further ratified a decision taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy held on July 28. Under that decision, proposed amendments to the Pakistan Oil Refining Policy 2023 were endorsed, providing for the upgrading of oil refineries so that the country’s energy requirements can be met more effectively.

Decisions taken at two meetings of the Economic Coordination Committee, held on July 27 and August 4, were also ratified, as were decisions taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases held on July 24.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

Aligning with the State Bank’s commitment to transparency in monetary policy decisions and the MPC’s reaction function, the SBP issued its biannual MPR. The report analyses macroeconomic developments and the outlook that influenced monetary policy since the January MPC meeting.

The report highlighted climate-related risks, specifically the evolving El Nino conditions and floods, which could adversely affect the economy. Moreover, delays in implementation of structural reforms could further weaken exports, slow productivity gains, and reduce the economy’s capacity to sustain higher growth without generating inflationary and external account pressures, it added.

Mideast conflict may lift energy, commodity prices

The macroeconomic conditions and outlook during the review period have been significantly influenced by evolving geopolitical developments, the report said. The outbreak of the Middle East conflict in late February led to sharp increases in global energy prices and freight and insurance costs, as well as supply chain disruptions, it said.

Despite this significant shock, the macroeconomic outcomes in FY26 turned out broadly in line with the projection ranges announced after the January Monetary Policy Committee meeting, said the SBP.

The report highlighted that the SBP’s prudent monetary policy tightening is helping contain second-round effects of the energy price shock, while keeping inflation expectations of stakeholders anchored.

Meanwhile, the government ensured fiscal discipline by raising domestic fuel prices in a timely manner and by introducing targeted subsidies and austerity measures to conserve energy, the report added. These measures helped moderate aggregate demand and kept demand-side pressures muted.

The report said that inflation is expected to ease and stabilise near the upper bound of the target range towards the end of FY27. Economic growth is expected to pick up and remain in the range of 3.5-4.5pc.

In the external account, the current account deficit is projected to remain within 0-1pc of GDP. This will support continued FX purchases by the SBP and help achieve the FX reserves target of $20.20bn by December 2026. SBP’s FX reserves are projected to rise further by end-FY27, said the report.

The report also discusses multiple risks to the macroeconomic outlook. They relate to an update on the monetary policy transmission mechanism; the central bank’s reaction function when faced with supply-side-driven inflation; the use of different measures of inflation globally and within the SBP; the growing size of open market operations and its implications for monetary policy; and the use of various sentiment surveys to gauge stakeholders’ expectations about different aspects of the economy.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

Addressing a press conference alongside PKI President Mian Umair Masood and Chairman Khalid Hussain Batth, stated that the farming community faces total devastation if the incumbent chief minister remains in office for another two and a half years.

They clarified that the PKI harbours no enmity towards the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as a party, but is strictly seeking Maryam Nawaz’s resignation, whom they accused of lacking political acumen and of treating agricultural projects as mere contracts for the favoured few.

The farmer leadership painted a grim picture of the agrarian economy, alleging that growers suffered a staggering Rs2,200 billion loss due to the provincial government’s refusal to procure wheat.

They condemned the federal decision to import 3.5 million tonnes of wheat precisely when the local crop was ready for harvest. Compounding these losses, potato farmers have faced deficits of Rs250,000 per acre, while cotton yields have plummeted from 60 maunds to a mere 12 maunds per acre.

Agricultural input costs have spiralled out of control, leaving the growers economically crippled.

The PKI leadership pointed out that a bag of DAP fertiliser, which cost Rs2,400 in 2016, has now surged to Rs16,600. Similarly, urea prices have jumped from Rs1,200 to Rs4,600, and agricultural electricity tariffs for tube-wells have skyrocketed from Rs5 to Rs40 per unit. Furthermore, the token subsidy provided on fertilisers was allegedly marred by departmental corruption.

Batth severely criticised the provincial bureaucracy and government spokes­persons, specifically naming Azma Bokhari and Salma Butt, stating they lack any understanding of agriculture. He challenged the Punjab government’s claim of a 21.9 million-tonne wheat yield, asserting that the actual production did not exceed 15 million tonnes.

“While poor farmers are subjected to police raids at their homes, the government turns a blind eye to major industrial players. Will they dare take action against entities like Ramzan Sugar Mills over unpaid sugarcane dues?” Batth questioned during the briefing.

Concluding the presser, PKI President Mian Umair warned that the PML-N’s actions will not be forgotten by the rural electorate and announced that, having lost all hope in the civilian leadership, the desperate farming community is now preparing to take its final appeal directly to the military leadership in Rawalpindi.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

The latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday showed that inflows were 13 per cent higher in July than in the same month of the previous fiscal year.

The country received a total of $3.6 billion in July, compared with $3.2bn in the same month last year. Month-on-month, the growth was 4.5pc.

The inflows are encouraging for the government, which has set an ambitious $44bn remittance target for FY27, up from $41.5bn in FY26.

Inflows from Middle East stay robust amid ongoing war

Despite more than five months of the war in the Middle East, remittances did not decline; instead, they increased compared with the preceding year. There were some reports of Pakistanis leaving the UAE, but remittances from the Emirates remained intact and, in fact, increased despite the war in FY26.

Currency experts said that thousands of Pakistanis have migrated to the Middle East for jobs despite the war; most of them have gone to Saudi Arabia.

They said the government is likely to meet the FY27 target. Remittances have not only left export proceeds far behind but have also helped the SBP to improve its foreign exchange reserves. The central bank is a regular buyer of US dollars in the interbank market, but SBP reserves are still largely composed of deposits placed by Saudi Arabia and China, which together account for more than 50pc.

Despite the huge inflow of remittances in FY26, the current account remained negative, with the trade deficit of over $39bn consuming most of them.

The current year also began with a $3.5bn trade deficit, which alarmed the economy’s stakeholders, who feel the cheaper dollar is leading to higher imports and an unmanageable deficit.

Pakistan has failed to increase exports to China despite Beijing now being Islamabad’s largest trading partner, and the trade balance remains largely in China’s favour. Moreover, under-invoicing and smuggling from China are also very high, as the Pakistani market is flooded with Chinese products nationwide.

The major corridors of workers’ remittances in July were Saudi Arabia ($913.9m), the UAE ($737.3m), the UK ($555.5m), the US ($317.2m), and EU countries ($452m).

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

“The president has approved the appointment of additional judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), Peshawar High Court, Islamabad High Court, and Balochistan High Court,” the Presidency said in a statement, adding that he had also given his assent to the confirmation of certain additional judges of the SHC and LHC as permanent judges.

The appointments and confirmations were pending since July 20 and 21, when the Judicial Commission of Pakistan — the body responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary — recommended them.

More to follow

The 7.4-magnitude qua­ke, with its epicenter in the coastal Choco region at a depth of 100km, struck at 7:34am, triggering a frantic search for survivors in several cities and thrusting the new administration into its first major crisis as Colombia declared a state of emergency.

“The national government is maintaining all its capacities deployed to protect lives, assist affected communities and deliver aid to every area that needs it,” President Abelardo de la Espriella stated from Bogota.

The leader appointed just three days ago reported 111 deaths, 87 people injured and over 1,000 buildings were damaged.

Govt declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude quake flattens dozens of buildings

The city of Pereira was one of the worst-hit areas, with local authorities earlier announcing that at least 40 people had died in the Risaralda region of which it is the provincial capital. The quake crumpled a tower of a beloved cathedral in the city of Manizales.

“A great many buildings” in the city sustained damage, said administrative worker Jaime Zuluaga, 50. “Traffic is paralysed and people don’t want to go back to their homes for fear of an aftershock.”

‘Missing people’

At least 20 buildings crumbled in Colombia’s third-largest city, Cali, trapping people beneath the debris, Mayor Alejandro Eder said.

Choco’s governor warned of serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where videos showed more buildings reduced to rubble.

“We are all devastated,” said Quibdo community leader Luis Gregorio Moreno. “At this moment there are reported deaths, dozens of wounded, but what there is most of is missing people,” he said.

Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela also felt the early-morning quake, which prompted building evacuations in the Colombian capital, Bogota.

Still wearing their pajamas, crowds of people rushed out into the street upon feeling the tremor.

“The quake was very, very strong,” said content creator Valeria Polo, 29, in the capital, where only minimal damage was recorded.

Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said, and the soccer governing body postponed upcoming football matches.

Washington is “closely monitoring the large earthquake that struck Colombia and stands ready to support the people of Colombia,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was “ready to provide more support” to the South American country.

“We have already mobilised Copernicus, our satellite service, to help with rescue operations,” she wrote on social media.

Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.

Latin America is already reeling from two disastrous quakes that struck Venezuela in June, killing more than 6,000 people and causing widespread destruction.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

“Based on the socio-economic profile of the eligible household, the risk is not simply that households remain without housing assistance; rather, it is that existing vulnerabilities become mutually reinforcing and deepen over time,” the World Bank said in detailed communication to the federal and Balochistan governments.

In this case, 84 per cent of eligible beneficiaries are ultra-poor and vulnerable, with 28pc earning less than $30 and another 26pc earning between $31 and $70 per month, while 39pc are tenants, 37pc are daily-wage labourers and 8pc are small farmers. These groups typically have limited savings, weak access to formal credit, few productive assets and low capacity to absorb shocks, WB said.

After meetings with the federal minister for planning, the chief minister of Balochistan and others following the capping of housing support at 62,966 first-tranche beneficiaries as of June 22, 2026, and subsidy support to 97,000, World Bank’s country director Boloromaa Amgaabazar expressed concern over the decision as well as the handling of issues pertaining to fraud and corruption.

Cautions exclusion could deepen poverty, disaster risks, social tensions

She wrote to the federal secretaries for economic affairs and planning, as well as the secretary of Balochistan, that the capping and redirection of housing support was leaving 119,049 verified and eligible households without identified financing support. Its public disclosure before the finalisation of a jointly agreed communication strategy with the bank had also created risks, as households that had completed verification and signed the project undertakings might continue to expect housing assistance.

She wrote that 66,120 exclusion-related grievances had been registered in the project grievance management system on or before the agreed cut-off date. Therefore, each complainant should be contacted individually and formally notified of the decision.

“Written acknowledgment, or other verifiable evidence confirming delivery and receipt of the communication, should be obtained and shared with the bank for review. A credible and transparent grievance resolution process is essential to mitigating legal, operational, and reputational risks associated with eventual closure of the component,” Ms Amgaabazar wrote.

With the capping of housing support, eligible but excluded households may face a compounding cycle of vulnerability that not only reinforces poverty but increases it, raises disaster risk and undermines long-term recovery and resilience, diminishing the objectives with which the project was initiated.

With limited resources, families may be forced to divert income from essential needs such as food, healthcare and education towards continued temporary shelter repairs, while also resorting to debt or the sale of productive assets to cope.

At the same time, families unable to rebuild resilient homes may remain in damaged or unsafe structures, leaving them more exposed to recurring floods, storms, earthquakes and heatwaves.

On top of that, the exclusion of verified eligible beneficiaries may also generate grievances, perceptions of inequity and unfairness, and continued erosion of trust in government institutions and development programmes, risks that have been observed in other housing reconstruction operations.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

• Next round of talks with govt today
• KCCI offers to mediate between both sides

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Talks between striking transporters and the government continued until late Monday night with both sides holding firm on their demands as the deadlock persisted, mainly over fuel pricing and taxes.

The next round of negotiations will be held today.

As oil tankers, edible oil tankers, trailers, goods transport trucks, etc. went off the road on Friday night ahead of the scheduled strike from Saturday, the government offered talks with the collective body of the striking transporters.

As the first round of talks held on Monday morning remained inconclusive with both sides unwilling to yield any ground, the second round of negotiations commenced later in the afternoon. The transporters have presented three main demands, each related to different ministries.

The first demand, to increase the permissible weight for 10-wheeler vehicles to 35 tonnes from the current 27.5 tonnes, as well as reduce toll tax rates, relates to the National Highways Authority (NHA) and the communications ministry.

The other demand was that diesel pricing should be revised on a monthly basis, as daily price revisions disturb their business planning. The third demand of the transporters relates to customs duties and income tax.

The government side was jointly led by Communi­cations Minister Aleem Khan and Petro­leum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik. It included relevant officers from the FBR, ministries, ports and shipping, federal secretaries, and transport secretaries of the four provinces.

Meanwhile, the strikers gathered under the platform of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Ittehad alliance, which includes representatives of various associations.

The spokesman for the alliance, Advo­cate Moham­mad Owais Chaudhry, told Dawn that negotiations between the transporters and the government were underway, but no decision had been reached so far. “We have clearly presented our position before the government and will not show any flexibility on it,” he said.

He added that the government had to accept the transporters’ demands for the strike to end.

Meanwhile, a senior official in the government negotiating team said the daily fuel adjustment had been made due to volatility in international markets and was not a local issue.

However, the government was considering lowering toll tax for heavy vehicles, while the axle load could also be amended.

KCCI offer

In Karachi, businessmen and exporters have warned that continued suspension of cargo movement would hit industrial production, supply chains, exports and the country’s overall economic activities.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Muhammad Rehan Hanif, in a statement issued on Monday, urged the federal as well as all provincial governments to immediately engage representatives of the transport sector at the highest level.

He warned that any prolonged disruption in the movement of goods and petroleum products could have a cascading impact on industrial production, availability of raw materials, delivery of finished products, fuel supplies, domestic commerce and export shipments.

He asked stakeholders in the transport sector to consider the enormous damage being caused to the country by the strike. He urged them to call off the strike in the larger interest of Pakistan, expressing hope that the government would engage with them and that their legitimate demands could be discussed and resolved through negotiations.

“The KCCI is ready to play its role as a mediator,” Mr Hanif said.

Pakistan Textile Council (PTC) Chairman Fawad Anwar, in a letter to the prime minister, said the strike from Saturday could severely affect Pakistan’s textile and apparel supply chains and export shipments.

He highlighted that Pakistan’s textile and apparel industry relies heavily on uninterrupted transportation to move imported and locally sourced raw materials to manufacturing units and to ensure finished export consignments reach ports on time.

The PTC chairman acknowledged that the transporters’ demands involved matters requiring coordination among different levels and departments of the government. However, he cautioned that the economic cost of the continuing deadlock would increase with every passing day.

He requested PM Shehbaz Sharif to bring the relevant government authorities and representatives of the transport sector together to secure an early resolution of the strike.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

‘Act for Nutrition’ will be held on Sept 2 and 3 at the Serena Hotel, Islamabad, to shed light on “the emergency we can no longer ignore”, DawnMedia said in a statement.

According to the statement, about 40 per cent of children in Pakistan under the age of five are stunted, while the country has one of the highest child malnutrition numbers in the world.

“Maternal malnutrition, widespread micronutrient deficiencies, food insecurity, poor infant feeding practices, rapid population growth and persistent poverty continue to reinforce a cycle of deprivation that spans generations,” the statement said.

According to recent estimates, Pakistan loses nearly $17 billion annually due to the economic consequences of malnutrition and undernutrition.

Recognising nutrition as fundamentally an economic, governance and developmental challenge, and not solely as a health issue, “Act for Nutrition seeks to elevate malnutrition from a fragmented public health concern to a national development priority”.

The conference will bring together policymakers, development partners, healthcare professionals, economists, academics, civil society organisations, humanitarian agencies, and the private sector for two days of evidence-based dialogue.

Speakers will examine the country’s nutrition landscape through interconnected lenses of poverty, health, education, climate resilience, governance, and human rights.

The principal partners of the conference are the Sindh health ministry, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and English Biscuit Manufacturers.

The knowledge partners include Globesight, International Research Force, and the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Research Network. The organisations bring together expertise to strengthen the dialogue around nutrition and child development in the country.

“Act for Nutrition marks the beginning of a long-term natio­nal movement — one that recognises investing in maternal and child nutrition as among the most powerful investments Pak­i­stan can make in its future prosperity, resilience, and human capital,” the statement said.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026