Day: July 2, 2020

National Savings raises profit rates

ISLAMABAD: The Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) on Thursday raised profit rates of saving schemes.

A statement issued by the CDNS stated that all the profit rates of bearer certificates had been increased.

However, profit rates of registered saving certificates have been reduced.

As per the decision of the CDNS the profit rates have been increased as: Behbood Saving Certificates, Pensioner Benefit Accounts and Shuhda Family Welfare Account from 9.84 percent to 9.96 percent; Defence Saving Certificates from 8.05 percent to 8.11 percent; Regular Income Certificates from 7.44 percent to 7.608 percent.

The CDNS reduced the average profit rate of special saving certificates (registered)/accounts to 7.05 percent from 7.15 percent.

Similarly, short term savings certificates for 3-, 6- and 12-month have been reduced to 6.80 percent, 6.76 percent and 6.66 percent from 7.72 percent, 7.36 percent and 7.30 percent respectively.

July 2, 2020
Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves increase by $1.24bn

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $1.24 billion to $17.97 billion by week ended June 26, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $16.73 billion by week ended June 19, 2020.

The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP increased by $1.27 billion to $11.231 billion by week ended June 26, 2020. The official reserves of the central bank were at $9.961 billion a week ago.

The SBP said that during the week ended June 26, 2020, the central bank received around $2,046 million official inflows, including $737 million from World Bank, $503 million from Asian Development Bank, $500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and $300 million as GOP loan disbursement from China.

After incorporating government external debt payments of $ 809 million, SBP reserves increased by $ 1,270 million to $ 11,231 million.

During the current week, SBP has received additional $1,000 million as GOP loan disbursement from China.

These funds will be part of SBP weekly reserves data as of July 03, 2020 to be released on July 09, 2020.

July 2, 2020
SBP seeks feedback on automaton of tax refund payment

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has invited business community to provide feedback on an ongoing project of automation of payment of tax refunds by the central bank.

Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor, SBP held the online meeting with the business community today to seek feedback on an ongoing project of automation of payment of tax refunds by SBP.

The meeting was attended by the office bearers of Pakistan Business Council (PBC), Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) and Chambers of Commerce and Industries of various cities.

Governor SBP in his opening remarks introduced SBP’s Automation of Payment of Tax Refunds Project saying that after automation of government’s revenue collections, efforts are underway by SBP to automate the government’s payments to ensure transparency, efficiency and public convenience.

He said that improving ease of doing business is one of the shared goals of the government and SBP for its significant potential impact on boosting economic activity in the country.

Governor Baqir remarked that Automation of payment of Tax Refunds Project is a part of SBP efforts in this direction in collaboration with FBR and Pakistan Customs. Adding further, he said that since the project is ultimately going to benefit the businesses, it is important that the system is developed in consultation with all the stakeholders including the businesses.

He emphasized that, in this regard, feedback of businesses is very important since they are the key stakeholders.

A senior SBP official gave a detailed presentation on the project elaborating that the project constituted two broader components, automation of payment of duty drawback claims and the automation of payment of sales tax refunds.

After highlighting the issues in the existing mechanisms he explained that how the automation will simplify the processes and bring efficiency in terms of time saving and human resources.

He highlighted that there will be minimal human intervention in processing and payment of refund claims as the system generated payment messages will be sent to SBP on real time basis through an interface between FBR/Pakistan Customs and SBP for crediting the funds in the claimants’ account.

The representatives of Chambers of Commerce appreciated the initiative of SBP and provided valuable feedback. They also assured their cooperation to SBP in the development of this project of national importance.

July 2, 2020
Equity market gains 89 points in mixed trading

KARACHI: The equity market gained 89 points on Thursday in a mixed trading activity, analysts said.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,978 points as against 34,889 points showing an increase of 89 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the KSE-100 index went up by 288 points during the session, which was contributed by a mix of sectors including Cements and Fertilizer sectors (which hit day’s high in early trading, but faced profit booking in later part of the session). Banking sector gained further as investors showed renewed interest post release of CPI data.

Among Cyclicals, Engineering (Steel) showed better performance contributed by MUGHAL and ASTL primarily, trading at and near upper circuits. Similar price performance was witnessed in Pharma stocks, among which SEARL and FEROZ remained prominent.

Technology sector contributed most to the traded volumes with 105.3 million shares, followed by Cement (51.7 million) and Banks (27.3 million). Among scrips, WTL topped 52.6 million shares, followed by TRG (28.6 million) and MLCF (21.1 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+58 points), Technology (+24 points), Food (+16 points), Pharma (+14 points), Power (-37 points).

Volumes increased further from 315 million shares to 383.1 million shares (+22 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 17 percent to reach US$ 74.9 million as against US$ 63.9 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TRG, MLCF, PAEL and HASCOL, which formed 37 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include NESTLE (+20 points), MCB (+19 points), UBL (+18 points), BAHL (+18 points) and EFERT (+14 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-31 points), FFC (-13 points), DAWH (-13 points), MEBL (-8 points), and MARI (-8 points).

July 2, 2020
Rupee strengthens by Rs1.16 against dollar on inflows

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee made significant gain of Rs1.16 against dollar on Thursday owing to ease in demand for import and corporate payments and substantial inflows during past week.

The rupee ended Rs166.89 to the dollar from June 30, 2020 closing of Rs168.05 in interbank foreign exchange market.

The currency market was remained closed for public dealing on July 01, 2020 on account of bank holiday.

Currency dealers said that the rupee was under pressure due to payment demand by end of fiscal year.

However, they said that the inflows from international financial institutions helped the rupee to gain the value.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received $1.3 billion as government of Pakistan loan disbursements from Chinese Banks this week.

This brings the total amount of official inflows received since June 23, 2020 to around $3 billion.

Experts said that the transfers would also help the central bank to improve foreign exchange reserves.

July 2, 2020
SBP directs banks, exporters to submit undertaking for true e-form
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has directed banks and exporters to submit undertaking for true e-form under export finance scheme.

According to a circular issued on July 01, 2020 the banks shall provide details of exporters including name and address, NTN. Besides, the banks will also provide number and amount of export proceeds.

Furthermore, both banks and exporters shall undertake that:
In case of mismatch between the commodity and HS code provided, the entry will not be considered for performance/entitlement until rectified.

The contents of subject MS excel file titled[Bank Prefix-Exporter’s NTN-Serial Number] are correct and complied with relevant instructions of the EFS.

The exports on usance basis reported in the above referred statement are against irrevocable letter(s) of credit which is/are eligible for negotiation and the usance bills in respect thereof have not been negotiated with a scheduled bank in Pakistan except those mentioned there against.

The statement does not include:

I. Any export of commodities which do not qualify for export finance under the Scheme.

II. Any export made under a Contract/LC against which they obtained export finance from any bank under Part-I of the Scheme (this clause is required in case of EF-1 Statements only).

The SBP further said that through circular letter no. 12 dated June 26, 2020 wherein banks have been advised to get verified their EE-1/EF-1 statements and submit the same to concerned SBP-BSC offices.

As it is in the knowledge of banks that in order to streamline the process and ensure smooth execution of workflow, hard copy submission of EE-1/EF-1 Statements has already been dispensed with and only soft copies of EE-1/EF-1 statement on the excel format attached at Annexure-I shall be submitted by banks.

In addition, banks shall submit scanned copy of original undertaking duly signed by the exporter and the authorized personnel of the bank on the format attached at Annexure-II. Banks shall attach the scanned copy of the undertaking in the email containing soft copy of EE-1/EF-1 statement.

The soft copies of EE-1/EF-1Statements of Karachi region shall be sent electronically to FEOD-HOK, through bank personnel’s official email address on: [email protected];whereas, for regions other than Karachi, the respective SBP-BSC Office will provide email addresses to banks’ Regional Heads.

The following must be ensured by banks at the time of submission of email containing soft copy of EE-1/EF-1statement and undertaking:
1. Email is properly titled as “Verification of EE-1/EF-1Statement: M/s [Exporter Name]”
2. Excel file is properly titled as “[Bank Prefix –Exporter’s NTN –Serial Number]”.
3. Single consolidated statement is submitted for each exporter having Advance Payment and Post-shipment entries.
4. E-Form No. and NTN is in the correct format.
5. Currency, Schedule and Sales Term is statedasper formatprovided in the list in drop-down of the relevant column in MS Excel file.
6. All entries have been reported in ITRS.
7. All shipping documents have been submitted for shipments against Advance Payments.
The SBP said that soft copies of EE-1/EF-1statements should be submitted at FEOD Karachi and Field Offices along with undertaking strictly as per the formats provided.
July 2, 2020
Date extended to exchange Rs40,000 bearer prize bonds

ISLAMABAD: The ministry of finance on Thursday extended the last date to exchange bearer prize bonds of Rs40,000 denomination up to December 30, 2020.

The last date to exchange the bearer prize bonds was expired on June 30, 2020.

The government on June 24, 2019 announced to discontinue the circulation of Rs40,000 denomination national prize bonds.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) allowed the investors to exchange the unregistered prize bonds through three different modes. The SBP has barred the exchange of bearer prize bonds against cash.

However, the bonds can be redeemed against registered or premium prize bonds or can be converted into national saving schemes or face value (direct transfer to the bank account of bond holder).

The bearer instruments have been known as parking lot for undocumented economy. Therefore, the government launched registered prize bonds of Rs40,000 denomination in March 2017 which could be purchased against certain requirements including Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and valid bank account.

According to Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) data made available on Friday people surrendered around Rs256 billion bearer prize bonds of Rs40,000 denomination since the ban imposed June 2019 for documentation of the economy.

The data showed the total stock of investment made in bearer bonds of Rs40,000 denomination was Rs258 billion by May 2019. The remaining stock of bearer bonds is Rs2 billion by March 2020.

July 2, 2020
EOBI pension increases to Rs8,500; pensioners to get arrears

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has approved increase in pension of Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) to Rs8,500 from Rs6,500.

According to a tweet by EOBI on Wednesday, the federal cabinet approved an increase in EOBI pensions from Rs 6500 to Rs8500 effective from January 01, 2020.

EOBI will restore the increase in pension + arrears for the month of April, June and July 2020. Pensioners can draw this increase along with the arrears from 1st August 2020, it added.

The increase in pension was announced in December 2019 by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari.

He said that after increase in the EOBI pensioners would receive Rs 8,500 per month from January 01, 2020.

He said the ministry would move the summary regarding the increase at the next meeting of federal cabinet for a final approval.

The SAPM said the PTI government, in its efforts to give more relief to the pensioners, had twice increased their annuity in just one and half year’s tenure.

He said the government had already enhanced the minimum pension of the EOBI’s insured person from Rs 5,250 to Rs 6,500 during 2018.

The EOBI pension has been enhanced by 62 per cent since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government came into power.

“We are intending to raise this amount up to Rs 15,000 by the end of our tenure (2023),” Zulfikar Bukhari said.

July 2, 2020
SRB collects Rs105.9 billion in challenge economic situation

KARACHI: Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has collected Rs105.9 billion as sales tax on service during fiscal year 2019/2020 despite challenging economic situation due to COVID-19.

According to a statement released on Wednesday the SRB collected Rs105.9 billion during fiscal year 2019/2020 as compared with Rs100.3 billion in the preceding fiscal year, showing 5.58 percent growth.

Out of total collection the SRB collected Rs5.6 billion as workers welfare fund.

“The milestone that SRB has reached represents a consistency of achievements, it has built since organization’s inception in 2011, courtesy the hard work and steadfastness demonstrated by its workforce, in work-culture dedicated to professional values,” according to the statement.

The year 2019/2020 had a particular significance arising from COVID-19. The employees put in their best, working beyond the normal call of duty, despite the lockdown, six days – week in the face of difficult circumstances arising from the pandemic.

The SRB also praised the taxpayers for their trust and cooperation ant the continuous support of the Sindh government without which the landmark performance of SRB would not have been possible.

The SRB is now eying on an overall target of Rs135 billion during 2020/2021 with a year on year growth of 27.5 percent.

July 2, 2020