Pakistan Affairs MCQs – Page 41 (Q401-410)

The Pakistani Rupee is subdivided into 100 units called paisa, though paisa coins have largely fallen out of circulation in everyday transactions due to inflation eroding their practical value. The currency was introduced shortly after independence in 1947, initially continuing to use Indian rupee notes overprinted for Pakistan before the country issued its own distinct banknotes and coins. All major denominations of Pakistani currency feature a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, alongside images of national landmarks such as the Faisal Mosque and Khyber Pass. The State Bank of Pakistan, established in 1948, holds sole authority over issuing the country's currency.

Habib Bank, founded in 1941, is notable as one of the first Pakistani banks to operate after independence, having relocated its headquarters from Bombay to Karachi following partition in 1947. Founded by the Habib family, it grew to become one of Pakistan's largest and most influential commercial banks, playing a central role in financing the country's early industrial and commercial development. The bank was nationalised in 1974 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's broader nationalisation programme before being privatised again in 2004. Habib Bank remains one of Pakistan's largest banks by assets, alongside other major institutions like the National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Limited.

The Karachi Stock Exchange was the first stock exchange established in Pakistan, founded shortly after independence to serve as the country's principal venue for trading company shares and securities. It became the dominant marketplace for Pakistani equities for decades, hosting listings from the country's largest corporations and playing a central role in capital formation for Pakistan's economy. In 2016, the Karachi Stock Exchange merged with the smaller Lahore and Islamabad exchanges to form the unified Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The Karachi Stock Exchange building itself remains a landmark of the city's financial district, historically centred around I.I. Chundrigar Road.

The Karachi Stock Exchange was established in 1947, shortly after Pakistan's independence, becoming the country's first and, for decades, its primary venue for trading company shares and securities. It grew over subsequent decades into one of the best-performing emerging stock markets in the world during certain periods, reflecting Pakistan's broader economic growth and industrialisation. The exchange operated independently for nearly seventy years before merging with the smaller Lahore and Islamabad exchanges in 2016 to form the unified Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Its long history closely tracks the ups and downs of Pakistan's broader economic and political fortunes since independence.

In 2016, Pakistan's three regional stock exchanges merged to form the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), consolidating the previously separate Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad exchanges into a single unified national marketplace for securities trading. The merger was intended to improve market efficiency, liquidity and international competitiveness, reflecting broader reforms in Pakistan's capital markets regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Karachi remained the primary trading hub for the newly merged exchange, given its historical dominance and its status as Pakistan's financial capital. The PSX has since attracted growing interest from foreign strategic investors, including a Chinese-led consortium that acquired a significant stake in the exchange.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange was formed by merging the Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad Stock Exchange in 2016, consolidating what had previously been three separate regional exchanges into a single national marketplace for trading securities. The merger aimed to improve efficiency, reduce duplication and strengthen Pakistan's capital markets' appeal to both domestic and foreign investors. Karachi, given its status as the country's financial hub, remained the primary operational centre for the newly unified exchange. The Pakistan Stock Exchange is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), which oversees corporate governance and market conduct across the country's securities sector.

Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis are one of Pakistan's largest sources of foreign exchange earnings, often rivalling or exceeding the country's total export revenues in recent years. Millions of Pakistani workers abroad, particularly in Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, alongside growing communities in the United Kingdom and United States, regularly send money back to support families and investments in Pakistan. These inflows play a critical role in supporting Pakistan's balance of payments and foreign currency reserves, particularly during periods of economic stress. The government has periodically launched initiatives, such as the Roshan Digital Account, to further encourage formal remittance channels among the overseas Pakistani diaspora.

The textile industry has historically been Pakistan's largest manufacturing sector and export earner, accounting for a substantial share of the country's total export revenue and industrial employment. Built on Pakistan's position as one of the world's larger cotton producers, the sector spans everything from raw cotton and yarn to finished garments and home textiles, with major production hubs in cities like Faisalabad, often called the 'Manchester of Pakistan'. The industry has faced challenges in recent decades from energy shortages, ageing machinery and growing international competition, prompting government efforts at modernisation. Despite these challenges, textiles remain central to Pakistan's economic identity and export-driven growth strategy.

Cotton is often called the backbone of Pakistan's textile industry, serving as the primary raw material supporting the country's largest manufacturing sector and export earner. Grown extensively across Punjab and Sindh's irrigated plains, cotton cultivation supports millions of farmers and feeds a vast domestic value chain spanning ginning, spinning, weaving and garment manufacturing. Pakistan ranks among the world's largest cotton producers and exporters of cotton-based textile products, including yarn, fabric and finished apparel. Fluctuations in cotton yields due to weather, pest infestations or water shortages can significantly impact the broader national economy given the crop's outsized importance to industrial output and export earnings.

Crops such as wheat, sown in autumn and harvested in spring, are known in Pakistan as Rabi crops, a term derived from the Arabic word for 'spring', reflecting the harvest season of this cropping cycle. Rabi crops are typically planted between October and December and harvested between March and May, relying on the relatively cooler winter growing season. Besides wheat, Pakistan's staple food crop, other major Rabi crops include barley, gram (chickpeas) and mustard. This cropping pattern contrasts with Kharif crops such as cotton, rice and sugarcane, which are sown in the warmer summer months and harvested in autumn.