Rupees 400 million dollar

The Pakistani rupee as part of its recent upward trend, strengthened by Rs1.05 in the interbank market on Wednesday.

The rupee appreciated by 0.36% against the US Dollar from yesterday’s close of Rs289.8 as the greenback today was closed at Rs288.75 in the interbank market, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

In the open market, the US dollar closed at Rs290 after it fell by one rupee against the local currency. It is pertinent to know that following the government’s nationwide crackdown against the hoarding and smuggling of foreign currencies, the greenback has shed its value by more than Rs18.

This is the 17th consecutive session that the rupee appreciated against the US dollar.

Last week, the local unit appreciated another 1.74% and settled at 291.76 against the greenback.

However, capital market expert Saad Ali — talking to Geo.tv earlier this week — said that the recent appreciation of the rupee [against US Dollar] was majorly driven by the government’s crackdown against the illegal currency trade and it is unlikely to “sustain for very long”.

Ali also said that he believed that the US dollar “might come down to around Rs285” but is unlikely to fall to Rs250.

The Rs250 figure gained importance after Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori last week, claimed that the market will see a further decline in the dollar rate, adding that the greenback will fall to Rs250-255 against the local unit in the coming days.

Taking to his X —formerly known as Twitter — handle, brokerage house Arif Habib Limited’s (AHL) CEO Shahid Ali Habib said: “PKR gained over 5.3%, or Rs15.3 against USD in the last thirteen consecutive trading sessions due to strict measures against Afghan transit and hawala.”

“We expect PKR to further gain in coming days to at least reach Rs278-280 against USD, if these positive measures continue like this and some external flows materialise timely,” Habib added.

Experts see administrative and enforcement measures behind the recent significant recovery of the rupee’s value against the US dollar.

Topline

The winner of a $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot was claimed in Florida on Wednesday, more than a month after the lottery announced a lucky ticket holder won the jackpot, the third-biggest ever in the U.S., though the winning ticket holder will take home less than a third of that after taxes are deducted.

Key Facts

Big Number

$850 million. That’s the size of the Powerball jackpot , which is slated for its next drawing at 10:59 p.m. on Wednesday. The jackpot, which has risen for months, is the fourth-biggest in the Powerball’s history. It also gives contestants a slightly better chance of winning than the Mega Millions, though the odds are still staggering, at 1-in-292.2 million.

Tangent

All of the top ten biggest lottery jackpots have been won in the past seven years, with five of them coming in the last two years alone, including the $2.04 billion Powerball last November. Part of the reason why there have been so many massive jackpots is a pair of rules changes implemented over the past 10 years, which gave contestants improved odds of winning smaller lottery prizes, but worsened the odds of winning the jackpot, leading to more unsuccessful drawings and bigger jackpots.

Further Reading

Mega Millions: Ticket Sold In Florida Wins Record $1.58 Billion Jackpot—Here’s How Much The Winner Will Take Home After Taxes (Forbes)

Powerball Jackpot Hits $835 Million—Here’s How Much The Winner Will Take Home After Taxes (Forbes)

To many onlookers, Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris were music’s next great power couple. They had the looks, the talent and the money–lots of it. In fact, had the couple stayed together, they would have earned a combined $233 million in 2016, beating out the next highest-paid couple, Beyoncé and Jay Z, by over $120 million.

But, as so often happens with superstar duos, the couple broke up. Still they didn’t walk away completely empty-handed: Taylor Swift made $170 million last year , while Calvin Harris made $63 million, earning them the number one and number 21 spot on the Celebrity 100 , respectively.

So how did Swift manage to out-earn her now ex-beau by $107 million? Touring is the easy answer. Swift’s 1989 World Tour grossed $200 million in North America, breaking a record previously set by the Rolling Stones, and eventually grossed another $50 million around the globe.

Adding to the multi-million dollar cut from the tour are payoffs from deals with the likes of Diet Coke, Keds and Apple–her commercials for Apple Music earned her high marks, in addition to a high payday. Swift also has a notorious relationship with streaming services, keeping her music off free platforms like Spotify. This means people are more likely to buy her albums, and they do: According to data from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, 1989 sold 9.5 million albums in 2014 and 2015 , combined.

The listening population has also been kind to Harris, though not to nearly the same extent. The DJ–the highest-paid in the world–has taken advantage of the high payoffs for playing in Las Vegas, where he receives a fee of more than $250,000 for every appearance. He’s headlined festivals, such as Coachella, where it known that festivals can make in the seven figures.

The other area where Harris lags far behind his former girlfriend is endorsements. While Swift’s recognizable face is beloved by brands (as is her loyal and large fanbase–she has over 85 million Instagram followers and over 79 million Twitter followers), Harris has not made as big of a an impression. His relatively small endorsement money coming from Giorgio Armani, as well as a few comparatively smaller brands.

But now that he has dated Swift, that all may change. Who’s making someone famous, now?

The FORBES Celebrity 100 list measures pretax earnings for front-of-camera celebrities across the globe; we do not deduct for fees paid to agents, managers or lawyers. Our numbers are determined by gathering data from the likes of Nielsen, Pollstar and BoxOfficeMojo, as well as from interviews with industry insiders and some of the stars themselves.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s whirlwind romance has taken another twist, with the pair being offered millions to appear on an X-rated adult streaming website.

Last weekend, the pair set social media ablaze after Swift was spotted attending Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs 41-10 destruction of the Chicago Bears. The popstar watched the NFL game from a private suite at Arrowhead Stadium, with Swift pictured laughing and joking with Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce.

And after the game, which saw Kelce lead the Chiefs in receiving yards, as well as catching a touchdown, the pair, who it has now been confirmed are dating , were spotted leaving Arrowhead hand in hand. Given the global popularity of the duo in their respective fields, and with how talented they both are, Swift and Kelce aren’t really hard up when it comes to cash.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift’s new NFL beau Travis Kelce has X-rated dating ‘dealbreakers’

READ MORE: Travis Kelce’s annual NFL salary less than the ticket sales for one Taylor Swift concert

However, that has not stopped X-rated adult streaming website CamSoda from offering them millions to appear on their platform so they can detail how their “love story” came about. “At CamSoda – a leading adult entertainment site – we know all too well how complicated relationships can be, especially when you’re constantly under the spotlight,” said Daryn Parker, CamSoda’s vice president.

When will Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift become ‘Instagram-official’? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

“You may only believe this in your wildest dreams, but I actually have an offer that can settle the score and get your relationship out of the paparazzi laden woods. We’d like to offer you both up to $2 million dollars to do an hour-long cam show on our platform (which has over 43 million registered users and counting) to talk about how your enchanted love story came to the first quarter.

“We hope when the whistle blows at the end of the 4th quarter, you two belong with each other, and on the CamSoda platform.” And it wouldn’t be the first time CamSoda have tried to capitalise upon an NFL incident.

The adult streaming site also attempted to get New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to commentate games for them following his brutal season ending injury at the beginning of September. Rodgers and the Jets had been the talk of the NFL during the off-season, with expectations high in New Jersey for what they could achieve. However, their dreams quickly turned into a nightmare.

In their season opener, the four-time NFL MVP tore his achilles against the Buffalo Bills, ending his season.

MANILA  -The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised an initial $611.2 million from the auction of the second-tranche US-dollar denominated retail Treasury bonds (RTB), which is more than three times the minimum target amount of $200 million that was announced on Monday.

A coupon rate of 5.75 percent was set for the 5.5-year debt paper dubbed “Retail Dollar Bond 2” or RBD2. It will be issued this coming Oct. 11 and mature on April 11, 2029.

BTr officer in charge Sharon Almanza said during the launching program that the second outing for the RDB follows the issuance last February of the 29th tranche of peso-denominated RTB.

Almanza said the success of RTB 29, which was also made available to overseas-based Filipinos in 61 countries, paved the way for the return of RDB2.

“The issuance of RDB2 is better than before as we strive for this product to be more accessible” to retail investors, she said.

The RDB debuted in 2021, from which the government raised about $1.6 billion.

READ: Retail dollar bonds open investment opportunities

At the RDB2 auction on Wednesday, the BTr offered $636 million worth of RDB2 while eligible dealers of government securities tendered a total of $636.2 million.

In a statement, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the launch of RDB2 was a result of efforts that started last January when the Marcos administration’s economic team kicked off an international roadshow that involved a financial literacy campaign for overseas-based Filipinos.

Diokno said a total of 700 Filipinos attended the financial literacy sessions, conducted during visits to Singapore, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“RDB2 is also an important tool to promote financial inclusion” among our countrymen by way of three initiatives, the finance chief said.

Minimum investment

First, the minimum investment amount was lowered to $300 for the maiden RDB to $200 or the peso equivalent for RDB2.

Second, the government is shouldering the final withholding tax on interest “so that investors can fully enjoy the benefits of their investments.”

However, this applies to investors who will use their US dollars. Those who will buy RDB2 through authorized selling agents will pay fees.

Third, the Treasury is again using digital platforms to enable transactions without going to bank branches.

This may be done through BTr’s online selling platforms, as well as the respective mobile applications of Landbank of the Philippines, Union Bank of the Philippines and Overseas Filipino Bank.

The authorized selling agents include BDO Capital and Investment Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, First Metro Investment Corp., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Philippine National Bank, Security Bank Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines and Union Bank of the Philippines.