Here are the key developments on the 1,093rd day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
![A Ukrainian serviceman of the 68th Jaeger Brigade attends military exercises at a training ground in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on February 20, 2025 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-02-20T154516Z_731590854_RC28YCAGURH0_RTRMADP_3_UKRAINE-CRISIS-DRILLS-1740104726.jpg?resize=570%2C380&quality=80)
We examine how negative global perceptions of the African continent affect its economies and the lives of its people.
The IMF is making the polycrisis we are facing even worse by forcing its most indebted borrowers to pay surcharges.
The $7bn loan is a lifeline for Pakistan’s struggling economy, but experts say the country needs fundamental changes.
![Pakistan has secured a 37-month-long, $7bn loan from the IMF but analysts say the government must take steps to protect the poor [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-12T114452Z_1196412525_RC2W88ADC54N_RTRMADP_3_PAKISTAN-ECONOMY-CENBANK-1727339405.jpg?resize=570%2C380&quality=80)
Approval comes more than two months after international lender and Islamabad said they had agreed on programme.
![Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told Pakistani media that the country had fulfilled all of the lender's conditions [File: Rahat Dar/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SS-Rahat-Dar-1709120887.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
From an IMF deal he wants to renegotiate to parliamentary elections, president-elect faces key challenges.
Election being seen as referendum on Ranil Wickremesinghe who has restored some economic stability in crisis-hit nation.
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister has accused the IMF of stalling on a loan deal, prompting concerns over its fate.
Petrol will cost up to 15 percent more from Friday.
Critics say IMF provides loans to desperate African countries on stringent terms, disproportionately affecting the poor.
Report shows country has slid into a protracted financial crisis, with Syrian refugee population hit particularly hard.
It’s the final tranche of $3bn programme agreed last year to avert default as Islamabad seeks another long-term bailout.
The deal comes as the central bank said it would let the Egyptian pound trade freely.
New gov’t will have to deal with soaring inflation, increasing poverty, low forex reserves and weakening infrastructure.
