Pkrevenue.com

Month: April 2020

  • SBP’s official reserves fall by $804 million in a week

    SBP’s official reserves fall by $804 million in a week

    KARACHI: The official foreign exchange reserves of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have decreased by $804 million during one week due to external debt payment.

    The SBP on Thursday said that during the week ended March 27, 2020 its reserves fell by $840 million to $11.185 billion from $11.989 billion a week ago.

    “This decline is attributed primarily to government external debt payments that amounted to $441 million and other official payments,” the SBP said.

    The total liquid foreign reserves of the country fell by $718 million to $17.387 billion on March 27, 2020 as compared with $18.105 billion a week ago.

    The reserves held by the commercial banks however increased by $86 million to $6.202 billion by week ended March 27, 2020 as compared with $6.116 billion a week ago.

  • SBP issues instructions to banks on PM corona relief fund

    SBP issues instructions to banks on PM corona relief fund

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued instructions to all commercial banks and microfinance banks regarding receiving payments under newly established PM COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund 2020.

    In a circular issued on Thursday, the central bank said that the government had notified establishment of a relief fund, namely, Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020, for providing relief and assistance to the people of Pakistan affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The Fund shall accept donations / contributions both from domestic and international sources.

    The government has taken a number of steps with a view to enhance transparency in receipts into and payments out of the fund, including the following:

    Cash balance of the Fund shall be kept separate from and independent of cash balance of the general government account;

    Government shall commission separate audit reports on the receipts and payments of the Fund, including audit report by one of the local affiliates of big-four international accounting and auditing firms; and

    The Fund will be administered by the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division in consultation with the Finance Division.

    The SBP said that a bank account of the Fund has been established for public donations as per the details given below:

    Account Title: Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020

    Account No: 4162-786-786

    IBAN: PK11NBPA0002004162786786

    SWIFT code: NBPAPKKAMBR

    Bank: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP)

    Branch: Main Branch, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi

    The SBP said that the donors have been provided multiple options for making donation/ contribution to the Fund as described below:

    A. Overseas Donors:

    a. Wire Transfer:

    Overseas donors including overseas Pakistanis may donate to the Fund through wire transfer to the Fund account detailed above. They would simply advise their respective banks to transmit the donation amount in the Fund account by debiting their accounts. The NBP shall transmit the donations received in the Fund account to SBP on daily-basis through ‘Real Time Gross Settlement’ (RTGS) system along with name of donor, country of residence and amount of contribution in both foreign currency and PKR.

    b. E-Payment Gateway:

    Donation / contribution can also be made to the Fund account through a link available at NBP website by using debit / credit cards.

    c. Transfer through Money Service Bureaus, Money Transfer Operators and Exchange Houses:

    Overseas donors may also donate / contribute through Money Service Bureaus (MSBs), Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) (e.g. MoneyGram, Western Union) and Exchange Houses (EHs) in line with the arrangements in place for receiving home remittances. Banks receiving such remittances shall transfer the same through RTGS to the above mentioned account of the NBP every thirty minutes during the banking hours, besides providing the details of their particulars [as specified under A(a) above] to them for the purpose of maintain the register.

    B. Domestic Donors:

    a. Cash Deposits at Banks’ Counters:

    Donors and contributors may make their donations / contributions to the fund in cash at any branch of any bank operating in Pakistan, which shall transfer the amount of donations so received to NBP’s above mentioned account through RTGS after every 30 minutes during the banking hours. Similarly, donations/ contributions may also be made at any of the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation.

    b. Deposit of Crossed Cheques in the Name of the Fund in Bank’s Drop Boxes:

    The donors and contributors may make their donations / contributions to the Fund by dropping crossed cheques in the name of the Fund in their respective bank’s drop box. All banks shall make available drop box facility at their selected branches for donors where they may drop their crossed cheques in favor of the Fund. The banks shall, accordingly debit the customer’s account and transfer the proceeds through RTGS/IBFT to the Fund account at NBP.

    c. Alternate Delivery Channels:

    The donor may also use alternate delivery channels e.g. internet banking, mobile banking, automated teller machines (ATMs) and mobile wallets etc. to donate / contribute to the Fund account through Inter-Bank Fund Transfer Facility (IBFT). For this purpose, they will use the IBAN of the Fund given above.

    Note: M/s 1-link will submit on daily basis the report of all donations routed through ADCs and IBFT to NBP by giving the particulars of donors including name, bank and branch of deposit, amount of donations etc.

    d. E-Payment Gateway:

    Donation / contribution can also be made to the Fund account through a link available at NBP website by using debit / credit cards.

    NBP shall transfer all the receipts to SBP through RTGS for credit to the Fund account with SBP on daily basis.

  • FBR extends date for integration of Tier-1 retailers

    FBR extends date for integration of Tier-1 retailers

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday extended the date for integration of Point of Sale (POS) by high volume retailers up to April 30, 2020.

    The last date for integrating the POS for Tier-1 retailers was March 31, 2020.

    The FBR said that only those retailers can integrate their POS by April 30 who submit their intention to RTOs/LTUs by April 20, 2020.

    FBR sources said that the decision had been taken due to lockdown in the many parts of the country in order to prevent spread of coronavirus the business activities had become stand still.

    They said that big outlets and shopping plazas are observing closure during the lockdown and many of those big retailers would not able to make compliance.

    Previously, the FBR on March 09, 2020 extended the date of online integration of Tier-1 retailers.

    The FBR said that it had condoned the time limit as provided in Sales Tax Rules, 2006 up to March 31, 2020, for online integration of tier-1 retailers’ POSs with board’s computerized system for real-time reporting of sales.

    However, this permission is subject to condition that the teir-1 retailers should furnish in writing their willingness to integrated all their POSs in terms of the rules to respective Regional Tax Offices (RTOs)/Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs) by March 15, 2020.

    The deadline was expired on December 15, 2019 which was given by the FBR to tier-1 retailers to integrate their POSs with the FBR online system.

    All tier-1 retailers are required to integrate all their POSs with FBR’s computerized system.

    Tier-1 retailer is defined in section 2(43A) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, to be a person who falls in any of the following categories:

    (a) a retailer operating as a unit of a national or international chain of stores;

    (b) a retailer operating in an air-conditioned shopping mall, plaza or centre, excluding kiosks;

    (c) a retailer whose cumulative electricity bill during the immediately preceding twelve consecutive months exceeds Rupees twelve hundred thousand;

    (d) a wholesaler-cum-retailer, engaged in bulk import and supply of consumer goods on wholesale basis to the retailers as well as on retail basis to the general body of the consumers; and

    (e) a retailer, whose shop measures one thousand square feet in area or more

  • Equity market surges by 1277 points on international oil price increase

    Equity market surges by 1277 points on international oil price increase

    KARACHI: The equity market witnessed sharp increase of 1,277 points on Thursday owing to jump in international oil prices.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 30,782 points as against 29,506 points showing an increase of 4.3 percent or 1277 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that After yesterday’s pause, Market again witnessed a huge stride of 1336 points, similar to what was observed day before yesterday.

    Jump in international crude prices by approx. 10 percent believed to have given the impetus that the market saw today, which saw OGDC, PPL and POL trading at and near cap for most part of the trading session.

    Institutional buying further boosted the sentiment amid the possibility of announcement of a relief package for construction industry that is likely to be made by the Premier tomorrow.

    In anticipation, Construction sectors (Cement & Steel) rallied and hit upper circuits. Cement sector topped the charts again with 64 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (37.4 million) and Banks (+33.5 million).

    Among scrips, HASCOL led the volumes with 29.5 million shares, followed by KEL (20.6 million) and UNITY (19 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+328 points), E&P (+258 points), Cement (+160 points), Power (+100 points) and O&GMCs (+93 points).

    Volumes declined from 193.8 million shares to 311.6 million shares (+61 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 55 percent to reach US$ 62.3 million as against US$ 40.1 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, KEL, UNITY, MLCF and BOP, which formed 32 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include OGDC (+81 points), PPL (+80 points), LUCK (+78 points), HUBC (+70 points) and HBL (+68 points).

    Stocks that contributed negatively include PAKT (-11 points), COLG (-9 points), FFC (-9 points), HGFA (-5 points), and NESTLE (-1 points).

  • Rupee ends down by 10 paisas on import payment demand

    Rupee ends down by 10 paisas on import payment demand

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended down by 10 paisas against dollar on Thursday due to higher import payments and outflow of hot money.

    The rupee ended at Rs166.93 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs166.83 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that the rupee was remained under pressure due to higher import payment demand. They said that importers were purchasing the foreign currency for importing commodities related to month of Ramazan.

    The experts pointed out that the outflow of funds invested in domestic debt market also put pressure on the local unit.

    The secondary market witnessed outflow of $47.6 million on April 01, 2020 as foreign investors opted to sell treasury bills.

    The currency experts said that the rupee may make recover in coming days due to lower international oil prices and reduced consumption of non-oil imported goods locally.

  • ICI Pakistan suspends production

    ICI Pakistan suspends production

    KARACHI: ICI Pakistan Limited on Thursday announced temporarily closing down its polyester plant and office locations due to measures taken by the government to contain coronavirus.

    In a notice sent to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company said that in accordance with directives of the government with regard to containment of COVID-19, the company has temporarily closed its polyester plant and office locations (which do not fall within the definition of essential services) till further orders and has moved to work from home arrangements to the extent possible.

    The company shall keep the stock exchange updated of any further material developments.

  • SECP announces relief for corporate sector to dilute coronavirus impact

    SECP announces relief for corporate sector to dilute coronavirus impact

    ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday announced regulatory relief for corporate sector in order to dilute impact of coronavirus.

    (more…)
  • Equity market gains 274 points in range bound activity

    Equity market gains 274 points in range bound activity

    KARACHI: The equity market gained 274 points on Wednesday in range bound trading activities.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 29,506 points as against 29,232 points showing an increase of 274 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded range bound today, oscillating between -330 points and +460 points during the session and closed +274 points.

    CPI based inflation release matched street consensus at 10.2 percent that gave confidence to the investors that the upcoming number would be even lower, raising the hopes that yield on fixed instruments, particularly T-Bills and PIB will dip further.

    Secondary market 5-year PIB was seen trading 9.1 percent.

    Today’s trading session saw profit booking as well that kept the overall market range bound, perhaps weakness in global equity and commodities market caused investors to rethink their decision.

    Cement sector led the volumes with 51.1 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (24.6 million) and Banks (15.9 million). Among scrips, HASCOL topped the chart with 25.8 million, followed by MLCF (19 million) and KEL (16.8 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+46 points), Textile (+37 points), Auto (+33 points), Inv Banks (+33 points) and E&P (+32 points).

    Volumes declined from 222 million shares to 193.7 million shares (-13 percent DoD). Average traded value also dipped by 9 percent to reach US$ 40.1 million as against US$ 44.1 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, HASCOL, UNITY, OGDC and PIOC, which formed 37 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include MARI (+35 points), DAWH (+35 points), MCB (+24 points), ENGRO (+23 points) and UBL (+23 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MEBL (-24 points), LUCK (-18 points), EFERT (-12 points), NESTLE (-10 points), and OGDC (-10 points).

  • Rupee ends down by 13 paisas on import demand

    Rupee ends down by 13 paisas on import demand

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended down by 13 paisas against dollar on Wednesday owing to higher demand from importers and corporate buyers.

    The rupee closed at Rs166.83 to the dollar form previous day’s closing of Rs166.70 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    The currency experts said that the rupee was remained under pressure due to higher demand from importers and corporate buyers.

    They said that imports related to Ramazan was remained high. They further said that the foreign investors also seen taking out funds from domestic debt market.

    They said that as the central bank reduced the policy rate by 2.25 percent to bring at 11 percent discouraged the foreign investors of domestic debt market.

    A huge fund has been taken out by foreign investors through sale of treasury bills after the reduction in policy rate and also deterioration of international economic conditions after rising pace of coronavirus spread.

  • FBR sanctions Rs56 billion sales tax refunds through FASTER

    FBR sanctions Rs56 billion sales tax refunds through FASTER

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday said that an amount of Rs56 billion was paid as sales tax refunds to improve liquidity of exporters.

    The FBR shared information about refund claims sanctioned through FASTER (Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refund) system developed for quick processing of refunds due to exporters.

    Since July 2019, Refund Claims amounting to Rs. 59 billion have been filed and FBR has sanctioned Rs. 56 billion, which comes to around 95 percent of the claimed amount.

    During the month of March, FBR has sanctioned refunds of Rs. 25 billion approximately to exporters.

    FASTER is a fully automated system which uses a Risk Management System for processing Sales Tax Refunds without human interference. FASTER is operational for the tax periods July and onwards.

    FBR strives to make timely payment of Refunds to exporters so that they don’t face any liquidity issue.