Category: Business

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued as many as 134,848 notices to high net-worth individuals across the country in order to persuade them to e-file income tax return for 2019. The notices were issued to unregistered individuals by the respective dedicated zones of the Broadening of Tax Base (BTB) created at Regional […]

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday said it had approved a $200 million loan as additional financing to support the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). A press release issued by the Manila-based lending agency noted that an ADB-financed social protection development project, approved in 2013, had enabled the enrollment of over 855,000 beneficiaries of the BISP. […]

HSBC is planning to lay off up to 10,000 staff, a report said Monday, just weeks after announcing the resignation of its chief executive and the cutting of 4,000 posts citing a weak global outlook. The latest losses, mostly in high-paid roles, are part of a fresh cost-cutting drive by interim boss Noel Quinn as […]

ISLAMABAD: Even though put on the “Enhanced Follow-Up” category by the Asia Pacific Group (APG) in August this year, Pakistan made significant improvements in its systems to fight money laundering (ML) and terror financing (TF) as per international standards. A Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) released here on Sunday by the APG — a regional affiliate […]

ISLAMABAD: Amid a perceived slowdown on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar on Sunday said Pakistan would engage China at the highest level for talks on several big projects in the fields of hydropower, oil refinery and steel mills. Speaking at a press conference a day […]

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Sunday announced that none of the bureau’s officials would call any businessman directly for questioning and the NAB would not investigate cases of tax evasion and those related to bank default except the cases referred to it by banks. Addressing a press conference, the NAB […]

The dollar firmed on Monday, breaking a four-day losing streak, as fresh concerns over the trade war between the United States and China kept risk appetite subdued and trade-oriented currencies such as the Australian dollar under pressure. A Bloomberg report that Chinese officials were reluctant to agree to US President Donald Trump’s broad trade deal cast a […]

ISLAMABAD: The government has increased the pace of releasing funds for development projects, with the first quarter disbursements coming at 350 per cent higher than the same period last year. The planning commission on Friday said it had released Rs133 billion for development projects in the first three months (July-September) compared to Rs37.7bn of the […]

QUETTA: The Balo­chistan government has exempted Gwadar Free Zone from provincial taxes for five years and decided to set up special economic zones and new industrial estates in the province. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the cabinet on Friday. Talking to reporters after the meeting, provincial government spokesman Liaquat […]

ISLAMABAD: To calm down disturbed businesses, the government on Friday decided to relax a condition of the sales tax act under which the misreporting of buyer’s CNIC number was a punishable offence. The manufacturers and suppliers had been complaining that amendments to Sales Tax Act, 1990 under the Finance Bill 2019 had envisaged fines and […]