ISLAMABAD - President Asif Zardari has given his approval to the Finance Amendment Bill 2024, formalising its enactment.

The bill, forwarded to Parliament, introduces revisions to tax and duty structures. With an anticipated impact of generating over Rs200 billion in additional tax revenue, the amended budget of Rs18,877 billion will take effect from July 1st.

In related developments, discussions are underway for a loan of $6 billion to $8 billion aimed at averting Pakistan's debt default, amid its status as the slowest-growing economy in South Asia.

As parliamentary proceedings advanced, the sovereign dollar bonds experienced declines on Friday, with 2031 maturity notably affected, trading at 78.69 cents on the dollar according to Tradeweb data.