ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met outgoing Ambassador of Palestine, Ahmed Jawad A.A. Rabei, and reaffirmed the South Asian nation’s “unwavering support” for the people of Palestine and their right to self-determination as war rages in Gaza. 
The current war in the Palestinian enclave began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military has since levelled swathes of the Gaza strip, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
“The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination,” Sharif’s office said in a statement. “He strongly condemned Israel’s barbaric actions against innocent Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023 that had led to the heart wrenching killing of over 40000 innocent Palestinians, including women and children, and more than 90000 injured.”

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s “strong commitment and support” for efforts to find a “just and lasting resolution” of the Palestine issue through a two-state solution with the creation of an independent state of Palestine.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza. 
The South Asian country has also dispatched several humanitarian aid consignments for Palestinians.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah Ltd. is open to further acquisitions to boost growth as the South Asian nation tries to emerge from a chronic economic crisis, Bloomberg reported this week, with the lender entering the final stages of reaching an agreement to acquire Saudi National Bank’s majority stake in Samba Bank Ltd.
Closing that deal should make Bank Alfalah a contender for future assets that go up for sale, Chief Executive Officer Atif Aslam Bajwa said in an interview to Bloomberg. 
“One-off opportunities will come by, and we want to be in play for that,” Bajwa said. “We’re looking for organic and inorganic growth.”
Bank Alfalah is Pakistan’s fourth largest lender by assets and is owned by United Arab Emirates-headquartered Abu Dhabi Group. It has seen the second fastest deposit growth in the past five years among Pakistani banks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 
That growth has come as its home country has been lurching from one loan to another from the International Monetary Fund to keep up with its debt payments that stand at about $26 billion for the year starting July. The nation expects the IMF’s executive board to approve a new $7 billion loan program later this month.
Pakistan has also asked China to “reprofile” some of its debts by extending the payment period to create more breathing room.
“The IMF program is paramount for the country to achieve because that will help in giving confidence to the rest of the world,” Bajwa said.
Pakistan’s central bank cut the policy rate by a cumulative 250 basis points in June and July from a record 22 percent. Inflation slumped from a record 38 percent in May 2023 to 11 percent in July.
The central bank’s efforts have been supportive to Pakistan’s equity markets, Bajwa said, noting that he expects interest rates to fall to single digits by 2025.
“The equity markets have been responding quite nicely,” he said. 
The benchmark KSE-100 Index has rallied 71 percent in dollar terms in the past year, making it the best performing stock market globally:
“Some foreign funds have started coming back into the market to give it some support.”