Category: Business

BRUSSELS: The European Union is ready to hit the United States with extra tariffs on goods worth 35 billion euros if Washington slaps duties on its cars, its trade chief said on Tuesday. The warning by EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström came as she said a plan by Europe and United States to reach a […]

ISLAMABAD: With the power sector circular debt in excess of Rs900 billion, independent power producers (IPPs) were questioned by the Inquiry Commission on Debt (ICD) on Monday about their purported higher than permissible profit margins. The ICD was constituted by Prime Minister Imran Khan to probe increase in the country’s debt during the tenure of […]

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue has notified provisions making it mandatory for ordinary citizens to show Computer National Identity Card in case of purchase over Rs50,000 from a registered sales tax seller. In the case of a female buyer, the CNIC of her husband or father will be considered valid for the purchase. The […]

KARACHI: The city suffered a major power breakdown late on Monday night after it received intermittent showers earlier in the day. The power breakdown occurred at around 11pm, plunging many areas of the city into darkness. Power supply in most of these areas could not be restored till late night. Earlier in the day the […]

QUETTA: Deputy Chief of Mission of Chinese Embassy in Islamabad Lijian Zhao said on Monday that his country wanted to help improve the agriculture sector in Balochistan by imparting training to the farmers about latest technology, proper usage of seeds, irrigation and capacity building. During a meeting with Agriculture Minister Zamarak Khan Piralizai, the Chinese […]

NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp agreed on Monday to pay about $25.3 million, including a criminal fine, to settle US charges that it made improper payments that were used to bribe government officials in Hungary and other countries. The US Department of Justice said Microsoft Hungary will pay the $8.75m criminal fine, as part of a […]

ISLAMABAD: The Competi­tion Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Monday urged the government to revisit the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) to reduce smuggling of the product. The CCP shared this recommendation at the launched of study on tea marketing in the country. The preliminary study highlights that competition in the branded tea market has remained […]

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi on Monday asked all banks in the country to collect details of ‘benami’ accounts of their bank account holders themselves, instead of the FBR doing so. According to a statement issued by the FBR, Zaidi wrote a letter to the heads of the banks and asked them […]

Pakistan needs to mobilise domestic tax revenue to ensure funds for social and development programs, while reducing debt, the acting director of the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday after a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Washington DC. The two officials discussed recent economic developments and the implementation of Pakistan’s IMF-supported economic reforms, […]

ISLAMABAD: The country’s gas pipeline network is facing an ‘emergency situation’ as supplies substantially outstrip consumption owing to lower than committed demand in the power system. “This is a very dangerous situation for the gas network as pipelines face extreme backpressure at LNG [liquefied natural gas] offloading points from two re-gasification terminal,” a senior official […]