Category: Business

ISLAMABAD: Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that he had offered tax holidays to foreign investors for two decades while sharing the “secret” of Malaysia’s economic success during a business conference held on Friday. Mahathir Mohamad, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, said wealth creation is the only way to improve crippling […]

ISLAMABAD: The Chinese government has finally offered Pakistan market access for three commodities — rice, sugar and yarn — worth $1 billion for the current calendar year, an official in the Commerce Division confirmed to Dawn on Thursday. The official said rice shipments to China have already begun as part of the deal which was […]

ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Thursday cleared a total of four development projects — including a major road project of the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — involving a total cost of more than Rs97 billion. The CDWP meeting, presided over by Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makhdum […]

ISLAMABAD: Expecting an additional gas demand of over 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) by 2020 winters, the government has called a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Cabinet next week for dedicated discussions on the gas sector. This comes in the aftermath of positive signals from Qatar for additional LNG supply […]

LAHORE: The unpaid income tax and sales tax refund claims of some 74 companies owned fully or partially by foreign investors have increased by a whopping 38.7 per cent in last one year from Rs47 billion in February 2018 to Rs64.8bn. According to a letter written by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry […]

The Ministry of Finance has announced that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will receive a 15 billion yuan loan, equivalent to $2.1bn, from China by Monday. The ministry’s adviser and spokesperson Dr Khaqan Najeeb Khan said that “all procedural formalities” for the transfer of the loan being provided to Pakistan by the Chinese government […]

KARACHI: International Hospitality Investment Group (IHIG) is set to invest $118 million in the country’s tourism and hospitality sectors. IHIG Chief Executive Noor-ul-Asif and Chairman Alun Richards met with the Board of Tourism Chairman Zulfi Bukhari, Special Adviser to Prime Minister Naeem ul Haq and Board of Investment Chairman Haroon Sharif at the Prime Minister’s […]

KARACHI: Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) jumped by $715 million to $8.838 billion during the week ended on Mar 15, on account of $1bn received from the United Arab Emirates. The UAE had promised to deposit $3bn in the SBP account with the second tranche of $1bn landing on Mar 13. […]

ISLAMABAD: The government is expected to pay Rs1.15 per unit water use charges to Azad Jammu & Kashmir – on par with net hydel profit (NHP) to provinces – on hydropower generation and reduce its federal grants and transfers proportionately. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, which meets on Wednesday, would formally take […]

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan has decided to provide concessionary loans at an interest rate of five per cent to special persons. The SBP said on Tuesday the bank had allowed small enterprise financing and credit guarantee facility for special persons. SBP governor Tariq Bajwa announced the facility at the seventh meeting of the […]