Category: Business

At the end of December last year, India’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves stood at $427 billion. A gradual build-up boosted them to $582bn on Sept 4 — showing a massive increase of 36.3pc in eight months and four days. Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves that stood at $17.93bn at the end of last year […]

ISLAMABAD: As the government struggles to translate memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) of thermal and renewable power plants for tariff discounts into contracts, sponsors of hydropower power plants (HPPs) have declined to revise old agreements with the government. A senior government official told Dawn that sponsors of HPPs had three to four sessions […]

Assessment of major crops like cotton and paddy in lower Sindh is underway but authorities believe the overall losses to major crops and vegetables are heavy. A survey to determine losses is being conducted by the revenue department in Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar, Badin and Sujawal districts that are all left bank areas in Sindh. These […]

The 1985 “Qamar-ul Islam” Taxation Reforms Commission (to which my London School of Economics colleague, Lord Stern, and I had the privilege of giving evidence) proposed enhancing the tax/GDP ratio from around 14 per cent to 20pc, to ensure economic independence, laying the basis for sustainable growth while reducing corruption in the then Central Board […]

ISLAMABAD: Of the total 2.743 million individual taxpayers, around 1.004m or 36.6 per cent taxpayers paid no income tax in the tax year 2018, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data showed. Even though all of these individuals filed their income tax returns, they fall under the non-tax bracket where their declared annual incomes are […]

KARACHI: With the passage of anti-money laundering bill unlicensed money changers disappeared from the markets which increased the counter selling of US dollars by 30 to 40 per cent, currency dealers said on Saturday. They said that since the move started for the passage of the bills against the money laundering, the illegal currencies traders went underground. […]

ISLAMABAD: With Punjab’s reluctance to finance subsidy, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Thursday allowed cancellation of a tender for import of 150,000 tonnes of wheat over suspicious activities of the bidders and ordered the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to go for small tenders in a gradual manner. A meeting of […]

ISLAMABAD: The K-Electric (KE) remained under attack on Thursday from consumers and the power regulator for prolonged load shedding in many parts of Karachi on the second day of public hearing on its request for Rs1.54 per unit increase in its electricity sale rates. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) reserved the judgement and […]

KARACHI: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) jumped 23.5 per cent to $112.3 million in August, up from $90.3m in same month of 2019, reported the State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday. Month-on-month, the FDI edged lower by $2m or 1.75pc from July’s figure of $114.3m. In the first two months of FY21, the FDI surged 40pc […]

ISLAMABAD: The large-scale manufacturing (LSM) output posted a rebound after suffering months of damage inflicted by Covid-19, as it grew 5.02 per cent in July, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday. In the pre-Covid days, the LSM index returned to red after jumping by 9.66pc in December 2019, which […]