Category: Business

ISLAMABAD: With Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) scheduled to conclude a staff-level agreement on Friday, the two sides agreed on Wednesday that the country would withdraw tax exemptions amounting to Rs700 billion within two years. During their discussions on Wednesday, the two sides worked out a financing gap of around $11 billion for […]

ISLAMABAD: Twenty days after his removal from the office of finance minister, the government on Wednesday decided to appoint Asad Umar as chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance. The decision was taken at a meeting of the parliamentary party of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) held at the Parliament House during which party leaders […]

KARACHI: The dream of cheap housing in the country may remain only a dream as the interest rate hikes have undermined the low-cost housing programme. Financial institutions are charging as high as 15-18 per cent interest on housing loans despite low-rate supply of liquidity from the World Bank through a refinancing company. “We have disbursed […]

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reviewed its revenue collection position and conveyed to Finance Division for a downward revision in overall target following a massive shortfall experienced during the first 10 months of this fiscal year. Based on factors such as economic activity, growth in GDP, LSM and imports, top tax officials […]

ISLAMABAD: The board of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is expected to demand the resignation of Managing Director Richard Morin sometime next week, Dawn has learnt. The move is in response to controversy around not disclosing information as required under the law and breach of legal requirements related to conflict of interest. “We expect that […]

ISLAMABAD: The government is aiming to announce the federal budget on May 22, according to a communication received at the tax bureaucracy last week, as confusion reigns over the status of the current and incoming chiefs of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Meanwhile, the summary to appoint Shabbar Zaidi, a Karachi-based chartered accountant, as new chairman […]

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday criticised the government over the recent appointments of economic adviser, State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) governor and Federal Board of Revenue’s chairperson, questioning if the decisions were made on the dictation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Speaking to reporters outside the National Assembly, Bilawal said that the government […]

KARACHI: The government borrowed 26 per cent more for budgetary support during the first 10 months of this fiscal year, as compared to same period of 2017-18. According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s latest data, the government borrowed Rs1,073 billion during July-April (up to Apr26) as against Rs850bn in corresponding period last year, representing […]

BAGHDAD: Iraq is planning a $53 billion mega project with global energy giants ExxonMobil and PetroChina to use seawater from the Persian Gulf to boost oil production, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi announced on Tuesday. The 30-year project would boost output from Iraq’s southern oil fields, and includes designs to capture natural gas, which is lost […]

BRUSSELS: Italy’s huge debt pile is expected to rise this year as the country’s economy limps along, the European Commission (EC) said on Tuesday in quarterly forecasts that could reignite a dispute with Rome over its budget. Brussels marginally cut its 2019 growth outlook for Italy to 0.1 per cent from an already gloomy 0.2pc. […]