Pkrevenue.com

Month: February 2021

  • Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to enhance duty, tax cooperation

    Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to enhance duty, tax cooperation

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to promote cooperation in the fields of duty and taxes to facilitate bilateral trade.

    In this regard, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan, Nawaf Saeed Al-Malikey here on Saturday had a call on meeting with Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Muhammad Javed Ghani during which matters of mutual concern pertaining to cooperation on customs and tax were discussed.

    According to press statement issued by the board, it was agreed in the meeting that relevant departments of both countries would further promote the cooperation in the field of customs and tax and would learn from each other’s best practices which would result in increasing the trade volume between the two countries.

    Chairman FBR briefed the Saudi Ambassador about the recent measures taken by FBR for the mobilization of revenue and facilitation of taxpayers.

    The ambassador appreciated the recent performance of FBR in the first seven months of current Financial Year and hoped that FBR would successfully achieve the revenue target set for the current year.

  • Weekly Review: market likely to trade in green on stability

    Weekly Review: market likely to trade in green on stability

    KARACHI: The stock market likely to trade in green as clouds of FATF-led uncertainty have dispersed besides ceasefire at Line of Control (LOC) may further boost investors’ sentiments.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain positive in the upcoming weeks as clouds of FATF-led uncertainty have dispersed and with only 3 action plans to be addressed, the likelihood of Pakistan exiting the Grey list in June 2021 are very bright.

    Moreover, ceasefire across the line of control (LOC) with India is a massive feat on the political front and will further aid stability in the regional climate.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 7.2x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 17.1x and while offering DY of ~6.8 percent versus ~2.5 percent offered by the region.

    The index remained under pressure this week in anticipation of FATF’s plenary meeting (scheduled 22nd to 25th February 2021), whereby Pakistan retained its status in the Grey List and has until June 2021 to meet 3 of the 27 initial action points.

    Albeit, a relief rally was witnessed on Thursday as valuations opened up and robust dividend announcement from UBL lured bulls. Moreover, another CAD was posted in January 2021 at USD 229 million in January 2021 vs. USD 652 million in December 2020 while FDI for 7MFY21 underwent a 27 percent dip YoY to USD 1.145 billion compared to USD 1.577 billion in SPLY.

    That said, the benchmark KSE-100 closed at 45,865 points, down by 0.8 percent or 363 points.

    Sector-wise negative contributions came from i) Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (107 points), ii) Commercial Banks (105 points), and iii) Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (78 points). Whereas sectors that contributed positively include i) Cement (119 points), ii) Technology (53 points), and iii) Textile weaving (7 points). Scrip-wise negative contributors were OGDC (92 points), PSO (42 points) and NBP (41 points) while positive contributors included LUCK (160 points), TRG (56 points) and MEBL (28 points).

    Foreign buying this week clocking-in at USD 0.3 million compared to a net sell of USD 0.6 million last week. Buying was witnessed in Cement (USD 2.6 million) and Technology and Communication (USD 2.2 million). On the domestic front, major selling was reported by Broker Proprietary Trading (USD 10.7 million and Mutual Fund (USD 4.9 million). Average volumes arrived at 589 million shares (down by 1 percent WoW) while average value traded settled at USD 159 million (up by 0.01 percent WoW).

  • Bank branch manager defrauds 29 customers

    Bank branch manager defrauds 29 customers

    KARACHI: During investigation of a case before the Banking Mohtasib Pakistan, a bank revealed that one of its branch manager committed fraud of an amount Rs30 million involving 29 customers.

    (more…)
  • Stock market falls by 101 points amid rang bound trading

    Stock market falls by 101 points amid rang bound trading

    KARACHI: The stock market fell by 101 points on Friday after trading in range bound activity during the day.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 45,865 points as against last day’s closing of 45,966 points showing a decline of 101 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in a narrow range today, oscillating between -213 points and +274 points.

    FATF’s decision to maintain status quo for Pakistan till June 2021 saw a lukewarm welcome from Investors.

    Profit booking was witnessed almost across the board, including Technology, Cement and Textile sector stocks, whereas O&GMCs faced aggressive selling, especially PSO, which has been facing wrath since announcement of financial results.

    Cement sector stocks rallied earlier in the session on the back of anticipation of healthy sales in the ongoing month, however, profit booking by the end of session brought stock prices below LDCP (barring LUCK, which showed decent price gain).

    Among scrips, UNITY realized trading volumes of 44.5 million shares, followed by TELE (36.6 million) and TRG (33 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-56 points), Technology (-33 points), Chemical (-31 points), Autos (-24 points), O&GMCs (-20 points) and Cement (+48 points).

    Volumes increased from 468.9 million shares to 479.9 million shares (+2 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 11 percent to reach US$ 162.8 million as against US$ 147.1 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, TELE, TRG, BYCO and HUMNL, which formed 33 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include LUCK (+57 points), HBL (+34 points), SEARL (+21 points), FFC (+18 points) and ANL (+16 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (-54 points), TRG (-45 points), COLG (-30 points), NML (-16 points) and NBP (-13 points).

  • 13 Customs officers promoted to BS-20

    13 Customs officers promoted to BS-20

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday notified promotions of 13 officers of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) from BS-19 to BS-20 on regular basis with immediate effect.

    Following Customs officers have been promoted to BS-20:

    1. Hassan Saqib Sheikh

    2. Masood Ahmed

    3. Fayaz Rasool

    4. Sanaullah Abro

    5. Muhammad Tahir

    6. Muhammad Saleem Memon

    7. Muhammad Amir Thahim

    8. Yousaf Haider Orakzai

    9. Munib Sarwar

    10. Muhammad Ismail

    11. Farrukh Sajjad

    12. Ms. Tayyeba Kayani Moeed

    13. Muhammad Nayyar Shafiq

    The FBR said that the officers, who are presently posted against BS-20 posts on OPS, will actualize their promotions against their respective BS-20 positions. Postings of the remaining officers will be notified separately.

    The officers mentioned at Sr.No.2 and 12 will actualize their promotions on return from deputation in the light of Para 5(5) of the Civil Servants Promotion (BPS-18 to BPS-21) Rules, 2019 issued vide SRO 1493(1)/2019 dated 03.12.2019.

    The officers at Sr.No.11 & 13 will actualize their promotions against Board’s Notification No.0426-C-I/2021 dated 26.02.2021.

    The officers, if drawing performance allowance prior to issuance of this notification, shall continue to draw the allowance on their promotion.

  • FBR promotes 24 IRS officers to BS-20

    FBR promotes 24 IRS officers to BS-20

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday notified promotions of 24 officers of Inland Revenue Service (IRS) from BS-19 to BS-20 on regular basis with immediate effect.

    Following IRS officers have been promoted to BS-20:

    1. Muhammad Safdar

    2. Muhammad Abu Bakar Siddique

    3. Ms. Tajamal Bilquis

    4. Ms. Fauzia Adil

    5. Dr. Razi-ur-Rehman Khan

    6. Shaheed Mehboob

    7. Muhammad Bilal Malik

    8. Barrister Nowsherwan Khan

    9. Ms. Iram Shabbir

    10. Fazal-e-Subhan

    11. Syed Farooq Jamil

    12. Mussarat Ullah Khan

    13. Naib Ali Pathan

    14. Dr. Najeebullah

    15. Ms. Zahida Sarfraz

    16. Waqas Aslam

    17. Naveed Khalid Khan

    18. Abdul Malik Durrani

    19. Rana Waqar Ali

    20. Azhar Erum Memon

    21. Muhammad Nawaz

    22. Javed Iqbal

    23. Sajjad Amjad

    24. Ms. Uzma Munir

    The FBR said that the officers already posted/working against BS-20 posts on OPS basis will actualize their promotions against their present places of posting. For actualization of promotion of officers at Sr. No. 4,7,9,12,21,22 and 23, the posts are personally upgraded vide Board’s Notification No. 0425-IR-I/2021 dated 26.02.2021 to enable them to assume charge of BS-20 posts on promotion.

    The officers at Sr. # 11 will actualize his promotion from the date he will return from deputation and join FBR within the specified time, in terms of Rule 5(5) of Civil Servants Promotion (BPS-18 to BPS-21) Rules, 2019.

    The officers if drawing special allowance prior to this notification shall continue to draw this allowance on their promotion.

  • 10 IRS officers promoted to BS-21

    10 IRS officers promoted to BS-21

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday notified promotions of 10 BS-20 officers of Inland Revenue Service (IRS) to BS-21 on regular basis with immediate effect.

    Following officers have been promoted to BS-21:

    1. Tariq Mustafa Khan

    2. Mir Badshah Khan Wazir

    3. Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana

    4. Muhammad Azam Sheikh

    5. Mehmood Hussain Jafari

    6. Muhammad Iqbal

    7. Muhammad Abid Raza Bodla

    8. Ms. Aiysha Khalid

    9. Karamatullah Khan Chaudhry

    10. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Lodhi

    The FBR said that the officers already posted/working against BS-21 posts on OPS basis or as Accountant Member, Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue, will actualize their promotions against their present places of posting.

    The officer at Sr. No. 6 and 8 will actualize their promotion from the date they will return from deputation and join FBR.

    The officers if drawing special allowance prior to this notification shall continue to draw this allowance on their promotion.

  • FBR notifies promotions of Customs officers to BS-21

    FBR notifies promotions of Customs officers to BS-21

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday notified promotions of BS-20 officers of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) to BS-21 on regular basis with immediate effect.

    Following officers have been promoted to BS-21:

    1. Muhammad Iqbal Bhawana

    2. Wajid Ali

    3. Ms. Rabab Sikandar

    4. Zulfiqar Younus

    5. Ms. Shahnaz Maqbool

    6. Ahmad Rauf

    7. Ms. Seema Raza Bokhari

    The FBR said that the officers, who are presently posted against BS-21 posts on OPS, will actualize their promotions against their respective BS-21 positions. Postings of the remaining officers will be notified separately.

    The officers mentioned at Sr.No.4, 5 and 7 shall actualize their promotions on return from deputation in the light of Para 5(5) of the Civil Servants Promotion (BPS-18 to BPS-21) Rules, 2019 issued vide SRO 1493(1)/2019 dated 03.12.2019.

    The officer at Sr.No.1 will actualize his promotion against Board’ Notification No. 0424-C-I/2021 dated 26.02.2021.

    The officers, if drawing performance allowance prior to issuance of this notification, shall continue to draw this allowance on their promotion.

  • SBP updates panel of chartered accountancy firms for audit of banks

    SBP updates panel of chartered accountancy firms for audit of banks

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has updated the list of panel of chartered accountancy firms for conducting audit of banking companies.

    The SBP through a circular issued on Friday informed that “RSM Avais Hyder Liaquat Nauman, Chartered Accountants’, listed in the Category ‘B’ of SBP’s Panel of Auditors is being upgraded to the Category ‘A’ of the panel.

    The central bank also enlisted two chartered accountancy firms in the category ‘C’ of the SBP’s Panel of auditors with an immediate effect:

    J.A.S.B & Associates, Chartered Accountants 1104, Uni Tower, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi. Phone: 021-32468154-55 Web: www.jasb-associates.com

    Mazars M.F. & Co., Chartered Accountants 3rd Floor, 44-C, Badar Commercial, Street 10, DHA Phase V, Karachi. Phone: 021-35342801-06, Web: www.mazars.pk

    The SBP issued the updated list of chartered accountancy firms:

    Category ‘A”

    Audit Firms in Category “A” are eligible to conduct audit of all Banks and DFIs

    A1. A.F. Ferguson & Co.  State Life Building No. 1/C, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 32426711-15, Fax: +92 (021) 32415007, Web: www.affco.com.pk

    A2. Baker Tilly Mehmood Idrees Qamar, 4th Floor, Central Hotel Building, Civil Lines, Mereweather Road, Karachi.  Tel: +92 (021) 35644872-77, Fax: +92 (021) 35694573 Email: [email protected], Web: www.bakertillymiq.com.

    A3. BDO Ebrahim & Co.  2nd Floor, Block ‘C’ Lakson Square,  Building No. 1, Sarwar Shaheed Road, Karachi.  Tel: +92 (021) 35683030  Fax: +92 (021) 35684239  Email: [email protected]  Web: www.bdo.com.pk

    A4. Crowe Hussain Chaudhury & Co.  25-E, Main Market, Gulberg II, Lahore.  Tel: +92 (042) 37759223-5 Fax: +92 (042) 35759226 Email: [email protected]  Web: www.crowe.pk

    A5. EY Ford Rhodes, 6th Floor, Progressive Plaza,  Beaumont Road, Karachi.  Tel: +92 (021) 111-113-937  Fax: +92 (021) 35681965  E. mail: [email protected]  Web: www.ey.com

    A6. Grant Thornton Anjum Rahman, 1st & 3rd Floor, Modern Motors House, Beaumont Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35672951-56 Fax: +92 (021) 35688834 Email: [email protected] Web: www.gtpak.com

    A7. Ilyas Saeed & Co. A-4, Sea Breeze Homes, Shershah Block, New Garden Town, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35861852, 35868849 Fax: +92 (042) 35856145 Email: [email protected] Web: www.ilyassaeed.com

    A8. KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. 1st Floor, Sheikh Sultan Trust Building No. 2, Beaumount Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35685847 Fax: +92 (021) 35685095 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kpmg.com.pk

    A9. Kreston Hyder Bhimji & Co. Suite No. 1601, 16th Floor, Kashif Centre, Main Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35640050-52 Fax: +92 (021) 35640053 Email: [email protected] Web: www.krestonhb.com

    A10. Muniff Ziauddin & Co. F/17/3, Business Executive Centre, Block No. 8, Clifton, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35375127-28, 35872283 Fax: +92 (021) 35820325 Email: [email protected] Web: www.mzco.com.pk

    A11. Naveed Zafar Ashfaq Jaffery & Co. 1st Floor, Modern Motors House, Beaumount Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 111-774-422, 35671909 Fax: (021) 5210626 Email: [email protected] Web: www.nzaj.com.pk

    A12. Rahman Sarfaraz Rahim Iqbal Rafiq, Rahman Sarfaraz House, 54-P, Gulberg II, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35875965-67 Fax: +92 (042) 35758621 Email: [email protected] Web: www.rsrir.com

    A13. Riaz Ahmad & Co. 10-B, Saint Mary Park, Main Boulevard, Gulberg III, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35718137-39 Fax: +92 (042) 35718136 Email: [email protected] Web: www.racopk.com

    A14. RSM Avais Hyder Liaquat Nauman, Suite No. 407, Progressive Plaza, Beaumont Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35655975-76 Fax: +92 (021) 35655977 Email: [email protected] Web: www.rsm.global/pakistan

    A15. Yousuf Adil, Cavish Court, A-35, Block 7 & 8, K.C.H.S.U. Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 34546494-97 Fax: +92(021) 34541314 Email: [email protected] Web: www.yousufadil.com

    Category ‘B’

    Audit Firms in Category “B” are eligible to conduct audit of Banks and DFIs having assets up to Rupees 100 billion or branches up to 160.

    B1. Amin Mudassar & Co. 4th Floor, IEP Building, 97-B/D-1, Main Boulevard, Gulberg III, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35717261-62 Fax: +92 (042) 35717263 Email: [email protected]

    B2. Reanda Haroon Zakaria & Co. M1-M4, Mezzanine Floor, Progressive Plaza, Beaumont Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35674741-44 Fax: +92 (021) 35674745 Email: [email protected] Web: www.hzco.com.pk

    B3. HLB Ijaz Tabussum & Co. 303, Sawan Road, G-10/1, Islamabad. Tel: +92 (051) 32354801-03 Fax: +92 (051) 32354800 Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; Web: www.hlbitc.com

    B4. IECnet S.K.S.S.S. Suite No. 209, Parsa Tower, PECHS Block 6, Main Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 34150811-13 Fax: +92 (021) 34150814 Email: [email protected] Web: www.iecnet.com.pk

    B5. Mudassar Ehtisham & Co. 50/2, Lawrence Road, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 36370215, 35466618 Fax: +92 (042) 36363614 Email: [email protected] Web: www.mudassarehtisham.com

    B6. Mushtaq & Co. 407, Commerce Centre, Maulana Hasrat Mohani Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 32638521-24 Email: [email protected]

    B7. Nasir Javaid Maqsood Imran, Office No. 807, 8th Floor, Plot No. 11/2, Q.M. House, Ellander Road, Opp. Shaheen Complex, Off. I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi Tel: +92 (021) 32212382-83, 32211515-16 Fax: +92 (021) 32211515 Email: [email protected] Website: www.njmi.net

     B8 Parker Randall – A.J.S. 6-C, 2nd Floor, ST Plaza, Kohinoor Town, College Road, Faisalabad.  Tel: +92 (021) 32621703-04 Fax: +92 (021) 32621701 Email: [email protected]  Web: www.parkerrandallajs.pk

    B9. PKF F.R.A.N.T.S. 16/II, ‘N’ Lane, Commercial Avenue, Phase IV, D.H.A, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35315275 Fax: +92 (021) 35315276 Email: [email protected] Website: www.pkf.com.pk

    B10 Riaz Ahmad Saqib Gohar & Co. 5-Nasim, C.H.S. Major Nazir Bhatti Road, Off Shaheed-e-Millat Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 34945427, 34946112 Fax: +92 (021) 34932629 Email: [email protected] Web: www.rasgco.com

    B11. ShineWing Hameed Chaudhri & Co. H.M. House No. 07, Bank Square, Off Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 37235084-87 Fax: +92 (042) 37235083 Email: [email protected] Website: www.hccpk.com

    B12. Suriya Nauman Rehan & Co. House No. 02, Street No. 02, F-7/3, Islamabad. Tel: +92 (051) 32610931-32 Fax: +92 (051) 32610954 Email: [email protected] Web: www.nrcca.pk

    B13. Tariq Abdul Ghani Maqbool & Co. 173-W, Block-2, P.E.C.H.S, Karachi Phone: +92 (021) 34322582-83, (021) 34322606-07 Fax: +92 (021) 34522492 Email: [email protected] Website: www.tagm.co

    B14. UHY Hassan Naeem & Co. 193-A, Shah Jamal, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35403550-51, 35403588 Fax: +92 (042) 35403599 Email: [email protected] Web: www.uhy-hnco.com

    B15. Zahid Jamil & Co. 1st Floor, Al-Jamil, 7-Madina Town Ext, Kohinoor Chowk, Off. Jaranwala Road, Faisalabad. Tel: +92 (041) 38725065-68 Fax: +92 (041) 38725070 Email: [email protected] Web: www.zahidjamilco.com

    Category ‘C’

    Audit Firms in Category “C” are eligible to conduct audit of banks and DFIs having assets up to Rupees 15 billion or branches up to 30.

    C1. Fazal Mahmood & Co. 147 – Shadman I, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 37426771-73 Fax: +92 (042) 37426774 Email: [email protected] Web: www.fmc.com.pk

    C2. Feroze Sharif Tariq & Co. 4-N/4, Block No. 06, P.E.C.H.S. Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 34540891, 34542607 Fax: +92 (021) 34540891 Email: [email protected]

    C3. H.A.M.D & Co. 302, Land Mark Plaza, Mohammed Bin Qasim Road, Off I.I Chundrigar Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 32630651 Fax: +92 (021) 35872521 Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

    C4. Ibrahim Shaikh & Co. 259-260 Panorama Centre, Fatima Jinnah Road, Saddar, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35210577, 35671853 Fax: +92 (021) 35676591 Email: [email protected]

    C5. J.A.S.B & Associates 1104, Uni Tower, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 32468154-55 Fax: +92 (021) 32468157 Email: [email protected] Web: www.jasb-associates.com

    C6. Junaidy Shoaib Asad 1/6-P, Block No. 06, P.E.C.H.S, Mohtarma Laeeq Begum Road, Off Shahra-e-Faisal. Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 34371910-13 Fax: +92 (021) 34371916 Email: [email protected] Web: www.jsa.com.pk

    C7. H.Y.K & Co. SKP House, 321 Upper Mall, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 111-772-000, 35789330-1 Fax: +92 (042) 35789182 Email: [email protected] Web: www.hyk.com.pk

    C8. Khalid Majid Rehman & Co. 7-A, Street No. 65, F-8/3, Islamabad. Tel: +92 (051) 32287713-17 Fax: +92 (051) 32287710 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kmr.com.pk

    C9. Mazars M.F. & Co. 44-C, 3rd Floor, Badar Commercial, Street 10, Phase V, DHA, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 35342801-06 Web: www.mazars.pk

    C10. Qavi & Co. Suites No. 717 & 718, Caesars Tower, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 32791966-68Fax: +92 (021) 32791969 Email: [email protected] Web: www.qaviandco.com

    C11. Rafaqat Mansha Mohsin Dossani Masoom & Co. Suite No. 113, 3rd Floor, Hafeez Centre, A/34, K.C.H.S, Block No. 07 & 08, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi. Tel: +92 (021) 34392361-62 Fax: +92 (021) 34320693 Email: [email protected] Web: www.mmdk.com.pk

    C12. Sarwars, Office No. 12 & 14, 2nd Floor, Lahore Centre, 77-D, Main Boulevard, Gulberg III, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35782920-22 Fax: +92 (042) 35773825 Email: [email protected] Web: www.saewarsca.com

    C13. S. M. Suhail & Co. Suite No. 1001-1014, 10th Floor, Uni Centre, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi Tel: +92 (021) 32414057, 32414163 Fax: +92 (021) 32416288 Email: [email protected], Web: www.smsco.pk

    C14. Uzair Hammad Faisal & Co. 37- Main Gulberg, Lahore. Tel: +92 (042) 35877470, 35879310 Email: [email protected] Web: www.uhf.com.pk

  • Rupee maintains recovery against dollar for five consecutive days

    Rupee maintains recovery against dollar for five consecutive days

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee maintained its recovery against the dollar for five consecutive trading days on Friday owing to optimism prevailed especially after FATF praised Pakistan for taking measures against money laundering and financing the terrorism.

    The rupee gained by 36 paisas to close at Rs158.10 to the dollar on Friday as compared with previous day’s close of Rs158.46 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that despite the last trading day of the week the rupee had gained value against the greenback. They said that though there was pressure on local currency due to demand of the dollar for import and corporate payments. However, supply was sufficient to meet the demand, they added.

    They said that the FATF a day earlier decided to keep Pakistan in the grey list until June this year. However, remarks of the FATF panel were encouraging as Pakistan had shown strong commitment to deter money laundering and terror financing.

    The exchange rate was at Rs159.10 on February 19, 2021. However, since then the local currency recovered Re1 against the greenback in the interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that the rupee may make more gains in coming days owing to improved inflows of workers’ remittances and export receipts.