Early Thursday morning, Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) shares dropped more than 600 points.
The benchmark KSE-100 index was down 613.5 points, or 1.47 percent. Analysts attributed the drop to delays in the IMF’s ninth review and increased political uncertainty.
Pakistan’s $6 billion IMF program was expanded to $7bn this year. The ninth review is pending, and IMF officials and the government are holding remote talks to release $1.18bn.
Pakistan and IMF met on November 18 but couldn’t schedule official negotiations on the ninth review.
PSX’s KSE-100 index stands at 41,124 points.
According to market experts, investors stayed on the sidelines due to economic and political uncertainty.
Remittances sent home by Pakistani foreign employees touched a historic low of $2.108 billion in November 2022, a 14.3 percent drop year-over-year.
According to SBP data, overseas Pakistani workers’ remittances totaled $2.108 billion in November 2022, down from $2.460 billion in the same month last year.