Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s new army chief has held talks with top Saudi officials, including the defence minister, on his first official trip to the Gulf kingdom as the South Asian country faces an unprecedented economic crisis.
General Syed Asim Munir, who took charge in November, has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors in visiting Saudi Arabia – a close defence and economic ally – on his maiden overseas trip. He will also visit the United Arab Emirates during the nearly one-week trip.
“The COAS will be meeting the senior leadership of both brotherly countries to discuss matters of mutual interest, military-to-military cooperation and bilateral relations focusing on security-related subjects,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement on Wednesday.
General Munir discussed military cooperation with Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz in the capital Riyadh on Thursday, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
“We emphasised the strategic partnership between our brotherly countries, reviewed the bilateral military and defense relations, and discussed ways of strengthening our cooperation,” Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted.
‘Vulnerable financial situation’
The current visit by General Munir came at a time when Pakistan faced a crippling economic crisis as the country’s foreign reserves have depleted to less than $6bn – its lowest since April 2014 – which can just cover a month of import. Inflation has been skyrocketing while the country is also dealing with the aftermath of last year’s catastrophic floods that resulted in an estimated loss of more than $30bn.
Earlier this week, Pakistani finance minister Ishaq Dar in a news conference expressed hope that Saudi Arabia will park its deposits in the central bank to provide some relief to the economy.
Islamabad needed Saudi money to shore foreign reserves and ensure a safety valve from default. Riyadh deposited $3bn in November 2021, under the tenure of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Last month, the kingdom extended the terms of the fund.
Since taking office last April, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has travelled to several Gulf countries to seek economic aid and investment. According to official data between April to November last year, Saudi Arabia has given more than $900m in aid and $500m for importing oil. Qatar promised to invest $3bn during Sharif’s trip to Doha in August.
Islamabad-based analyst Mohammed Faisal believed that General Munir’s visit must be seen from the lens of the economy as it comes at a time of “particularly vulnerable financial situation”.
“Pakistani leadership is looking towards Saudi royals to shore up the depleting foreign reserves to avert default. For Islamabad, a key outcome of the trip would be a Saudi announcement of financial assistance,” he told Al Jazeera.
Pakistan managed to secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $1.17bn in August. But the next tranche of the $1.18bn loan has been delayed. Islamabad is still negotiating with IMF for the next tranche.
In September, the Pakistan finance minister resigned while the government seems unwilling to accept IMF conditions, including increasing levies on fuel.
Pakistan has been teetering on the brink of default, which, in simple terms, means the country cannot pay back what it is owed and the treasury does not have sufficient money to meet its debt obligations. Experts have feared Pakistan is headed to a Sri Lanka-like default situation and that it can be only prevented by deft handling of the economy.
From the Saudi perspective, Faisal said, the Gulf nation wanted to maintain the relationship with Pakistan because the country was an important element of Saudi regional strategy.
“Saudi Arabia is aware that Pakistan, a large Muslim-majority country endorses Saudi claim to be the guardian of two of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina,” Faisal told Al Jazeera.
Close ties
With the relationship between the two nations going back more than 50 years, this is not the first time a Pakistani leader, either civilian or military, has picked the kingdom as their first destination after taking charge.
Both the current Prime Minister Sharif and his predecessor Khan travelled to Saudi Arabia on their maiden visits in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
The last two former army chiefs, General Qamar Javed Bajwa – Munir’s predecessor, and General Raheel Sharif, went to Saudi Arabia for their first trip.
Sharif, after his retirement in November 2016, subsequently became the commander-in-chief of the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, a 41-nation alliance of Muslim countries located in Riyadh.
Pakistan’s former envoy to Saudi Arabia Shahid M Amin said that the relationship between the two nations is historic in nature and, while Pakistan often needs economic support, it also has provided security assistance to Saudi Arabia.
“The two countries have engaged in various sectors such as economy, labour, trade, security and the fact that the current army chief went to Saudi Arabia, it is merely a continuation of a pattern.”
Amin told Al Jazeera that Pakistani manpower was the key driver for Saudi development for more than five decades. Pakistan, too, Amin said, has made commitments to protect the kingdom in case of any security concerns.
A retired senior military officer, Omar Mahmood Hayat, concurred with Amin’s views and said that the relationship is time-tested.
“One of our oldest and biggest bilateral military exercises has been with Saudi Arabia. We have a very strong training team deployed in Saudi for decades,” he said.
General Munir himself has served time in Saudi Arabia as part of the Pakistani army’s close defence cooperation with the kingdom.
Hayat further added that with Kingdom itself a very strong member of various international forums, it helps echo Pakistan’s point of view, as well.
“It makes a lot of sense that this should be the first visit as has always been,” he said.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
