Category: Business

ISLAMABAD: Despite significantly higher needs, Pakistan received a paltry $2.324 billion of budgeted foreign assistance in first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year, apparently due to the inability of the PTI government to secure an umbrella support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The latest data on foreign assistance including loans and grants released […]

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that reforming Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) is high on his agenda, but warned that if the tax collection authority cannot be fixed, he will create a new one. “Reforming FBR is essential. Until that is done, we [the state] will not be able to meet our expenses,” […]

ISLAMABAD: The PTI government in its second Finance Supplementary Bill, 2019 has agreed to introduce 10 major amendments to the Finance Act 2019 with most related to boosting investment. Of all the recommendations, five are related to income tax measures, one caters to sales tax, two to customs and one for federal excise duty. These […]

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday denied accusations of “partisan” political meddling in the criminal prosecution of a corporate giant that plunged his Liberal government into its worst crisis yet. “I have never raised partisan considerations” with former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, Trudeau told a press conference. His government has been rocked over the […]

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday ordered another investigation to ascertain who had allowed unauthorised pressure factor in natural gas tariff that led to excessive billing to domestic consumers of gas companies, particularly the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). According to a notification issued by the petroleum division of the Ministry of Energy on the […]

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved, in principle, the first-ever National Tariff Policy (NTP) to ensure transparency and predictability and institutionalise the entire structure of the tariff regime. The draft policy will now be presented before the federal cabinet for consideration, a Prime Minister Office statement said on Wednesday. Highlighting the policy’s salient features, […]

ISLAMABAD: The government is working to rationalise taxes on milk supply chain to incentivise the sector in order to expand collection and processing units across the country, said Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Razak Dawood in a meeting with the delegation of International Finance Corporation The meeting was held to discuss policy […]

BEIJING: China said on Wednesday that it is blocking some imports of the agricultural product canola from Canada because of fears of insect infestation. The move, which comes amid heightened tensions over Canada’s arrest of a Chinese tech executive, is seen by some as a new tactic to seek leverage over Ottawa. China suspended canola […]

PESHAWAR: A whopping amount of Rs487 billion, which is around 80 per cent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s budgetary allocations for the next financial year, is likely to be used for non-development purposes, reveals the finance department. The revelation has been made in the 2019-20 Budget Strategy Paper-I, which was prepared by the finance department and presented […]

ISLAMABAD: The Secu­rities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) incorporated 1,290 companies in February, taking the total number of registered entities to 96,150. The corporate sector regulator has stated that the February witnessed a growth of 26 per cent in registrations as compared to the previous month. Around 75 per cent companies were registered as […]