Karachi: The assassination attempt on former Pakistan premier Imran Khan and the political uncertainty in the country spooked the investors on Friday, with the Karachi Stock Exchange down by over 300 points and the local currency losing considerable ground to the US dollar.
Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will hold countrywide protests after Friday prayers to press for snap elections, a demand put forth by the former premier who was injured after an assassination attempt on him.
Khan, 70, suffered a bullet injury in the right leg when a gun-wielding man fired a volley of bullets at him and others mounting on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province, where he was leading a protest march against the government. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the red on Friday, with the benchmark index dropping after trading began and by mid day it had lost 306.45 points, or 0.73 per cent, to reach 41,784.26 points.
