FBR unit unearths novel way of evading tax

ISLAMABAD: The Direc­torate General of Intelligence and Investigation (DG I&I) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has unearthed several cases involving business concerns that park money in far-flung areas after making cash transactions in order to avoid taxes. Preliminary investigations have revealed tax evasion of billions in just three cases that fall under the […]

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UK watchdog tells markets: be ready in case of no EU trade deal

LONDON: Financial firms in Britain should be ready in case no trade agreement is struck with the European Union by December, a senior UK regulator said on Thursday. Britain leaves the EU next week, followed by a “business as usual” transition that ends in December. Britain and the EU will formally begin trade talks in […]

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Six-month profit outflow rises to $836m

KARACHI: Outflow of profits and dividends from the country during the first half of current fiscal year increased by 10 per cent despite lower outflows from the foreign portfolio investment. The outflow during July-Dec FY20 was $836 million compared to $759.5m in the same period last fiscal year. However, portfolio investment outflows fell to $93m […]

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Industry deplores ‘knee-jerk U-turns’ in economic policy

ISLAMABAD: The government and the country’s big businesses entered into a serious tug of war over electricity tariff that has increased by almost 35 per cent on average over the past 18 months. Pakistan Business Council — an alliance of about 82 of the largest Pakistani business houses claiming about 18 per cent share in […]

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International restrictions blamed for lower oil production

ISLAMABAD: Confirming economic slowdown due to stabilisation programme, the government on Thursday said the operations of local refineries had slowed down because of high production of residual fuel oil (RFO) and the international ban on its use for bunkering with effect from Dec 31, 2019. In a statement, the petroleum division said that because of […]

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Half-yearly uplift spending rises to 55pc of allocation

ISLAMABAD: The government has increased development spending to about 55 per cent of its budgetary allocations, significantly higher than last year’s 35pc during the corresponding period. The data released by the Planning Commission shows that it has approved Rs384 billion disbursements for development projects as of January 17 against a budgetary allocation of Rs701bn, accounting […]

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Foreign LNG firms to invest $500m without off-take guarantees

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on Wednesday was informed that international companies investing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) will bring in roughly $500 million foreign direct investment without any financial subsidy and off-take guarantees from the government which earlier placed unnecessary financial burden on the state. During the meeting of Standing Committee of National Assembly on […]

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Pakistan drops three spots on global Corruption Perceptions Index 2019

Pakistan ranked 120 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2019 released by Transparency International on Thursday, slipping by three spots from the previous year’s ranking despite increased anti-corruption efforts. On a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), Pakistan was assigned a score of 32, a point lower than […]

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