Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz

Customs chemical examiner awarded ‘removal from service’

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has awarded major penalty of ‘removal from service’ upon a chemical examiner of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) on the charges of misconduct and inefficiency.

According to details received on Monday, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Tahir Jamal, Deputy Assistant Chemical Examiner (BS-16), Collectorate of Customs Appraisement-West, Karachi under the Civil Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 2020.

READ MORE: President Alvi retains major penalty on NAB official

Saad Atta Rabbani, Additional Collector (BS-19), Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi was appointed as Inquiry Officer vide Order of Inquiry dated August 04, 2021 who conducted inquiry under the Civil Servants (Efficiency & discipline) Rules, 2020 and submitted inquiry report to the FBR on January 05, 2022 with the findings and conclusion that the charges of “Inefficiency” and “Misconduct” stand fully established against the accused officer.

On the basis of Inquiry Report, a Show Cause Notice was issued on March 31, 2022 to Tahir Jamal, Deputy Assistant Chemical Examiner (BS-16), Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi.

READ MORE: Customs officer awarded ‘major penalty’ for corruption

He submitted reply to the Show Cause Notice, which was received in the Board on April 15, 2022, wherein he stated that the Order of Inquiry dated August 04, 2021 is illegal and requires to be withdrawn.

He further stated that he has challenged the Order of Inquiry by filing an appeal before the Federal Service Tribunal (FST). He also requested for personal hearing enabling him to explain his case in person as well.

The Member (Admn/HR) / Authority afforded an opportunity of personal hearing to the accused on May 23, 2022.

The Member (Admn/ HR) / Authority having carefully considered the record of the case, the Inquiry Report, reply to the Show Cause Notice and the submissions made by the accused during the personal hearing, has found no solid evidence and merits in the stance of the accused for submitting wrong/misleading laboratory test reports and remaining away from office w.e.f. August 07, 2018 till date.

READ MORE: FBR terminates job of IRS officer on misconduct

Accordingly, the Member (Admn/ HR) / Authority has observed that charges of “Inefficiency” and “misconduct” under Rule 3(a) and (b) of Civil Servants (E&D) Rules, 2020 stand established against the accused.

The Authority has, therefore, imposed major penalty of “Removal from Service” upon Tahir Jamal, Deputy Assistant Chemical Examiner (BS-16), Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi under Rule 4(3)(d) of the Civil Servants (E&D) Rules, 2020.

He will have a right to file appeal against this Order to the Appellate Authority under Civil Servants (Appeals) Rules, 1977 within a period of 30 days from the date of communication of this Notification.

READ MORE: Customs officer awarded ‘dismissal from service’

June 7, 2022
Customs directed not to confiscate personal baggage

LAHORE: Authorities of Pakistan Customs have been directed to facilitate passengers and not to confiscate personal gifts and food brought with the passengers.

Head of Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi directed this while visiting Lahore Airport.

READ MORE: Banned items: FBR deputes officers 24X7 to facilitate passengers

Salman Sufi said new airport operation reforms will be announced soon to improve passenger facilities at airports.

He said this during his visit to Lahore Airport to review the complaints of confiscation of personal belongings of passengers and the facilities provided to them.

READ MORE: Import ban not to apply on L/C issued before May 19, 2022

Salman Sufi directed the customs authorities to improve services through a systematic procedure from receipt of goods to inspection and not confiscate any personal gifts and food brought with the passengers.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s imports hit record high at $65.47 bn in 10 months

He also directed the Civil Aviation Authority to increase the number of porters and provide special rooms for the disabled passengers where they can rest in case of any flight delay.

Salman Sufi said work has been started to run the Lahore airport in a new style so that best services could be provided to the passengers as per the vision of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s March trade deficit widens by only 5.5%

June 6, 2022
FBR issues list of 113 retailers for mandatory integration

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a list of 113 retailers and directed them to integrate by June 10, 2022 otherwise action will be taken as per law.

The FBR issued Sales Tax General Order (STGO) No. 18 of 2022 related to Tier-1 retailers for integration with FBR’s Point of Sale (POS) system.

READ MORE: FBR issues list of 185 retailers for mandatory integration

The Finance Act, 2019 added sub-section (6) to Section 8B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 whereby a Tier-1 Retailer who did not integrate its retail outlet in the manner prescribed under Sub-Section (9A) of Section 3 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 during a tax period, its adjustable tax for that period would be reduced by 15 per cent. The figure of 15 per cent has been substituted by 60 per cent vide Finance Act, 2021.

READ MORE: FBR issues list of 1,358 retailers for mandatory POS

In order to operationalize this important provision of law, a system-based approach has been adopted whereby all Tier-1 Retailers who were liable to integrate but have not yet integrated, with effect from July 2021 (Sales Tax Returns filed in August 2021) are not be dealt as per the procedure laid down in STGO No/ 1 of 2022 issued on August 3, 2021.

READ MORE: Prize scheme on invoices issued by retailers

Under this STGO, a list of 113 identified Tier-1 Retailers has been placed on FBR’s web portal allowing them to integrate with FBR’s system by June 10, 2022 and the procedure of exclusion from this list of 113 identified Tier-1 Retailers shall apply as laid down in STGO 17 of 2022 dated May 05, 2022.

The FBR said that upon filing sales tax return for the month of May 2022 for all hereby notified Tier-1 Retailers not having yet integrated, their input tax claim would be disallowed as above, without any further notice or proceedings, creating tax demand by the same amount.

READ MORE: FBR decides penal action against defaulting retailers

June 5, 2022
Prices of essential items rise by 20% on first POL rate jump

ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential items recorded an increase of 20 per cent owing to first jump in petroleum prices announced a week ago, official documents revealed on Friday.

The inflation based on Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) has increased by 20.04 per cent on year on year basis by week ended June 02, 2022, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation up by 13.8% in May 2022

On week on week (WoW) basis the SPI recorded a two percent for the week ended June 02, 2022 over the previous week ended May 06, 2022.

The SPI determines the price fluctuation in basic kitchen items on weekly basis. The Sensitive Price Indicator comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities.

The latest surge in prices of essential items is the result of increase in prices of petroleum products that were announced on May 26, 2022 and effective from May 27, 2022.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s inflation sharply up by 13.4% in April 2022

The federal government on May 26, 2022 announced a sharp increase of Rs30 per cent liter each on all petroleum products.

The price hike in essential items likely to rise alarmingly and may reflect in the SPI of next week ended June 9, 2022 as the government again increased the prices of petroleum products on June 02, 2022.

According to the PBS, the SPI for the current week ended on June 02, 2022 recorded an increase of 2 per cent.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation increases by 12.7% in March

Increase observed in the prices of food items Potatoes (9.08 per cent), Eggs (6.38 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 kg (4.59 per cent), Bread (2.72 per cent), Mustard Oil (2.65 per cent), Pulse Masoor (2.33 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (2.18 per cent), Pulse Gram (1.99 per cent), Sugar (1.93 per cent), Cooked Beef & Pulse Mash (1.69 per cent) each, Vegetable Ghee 2.5 kg (1.51 per cent) and Bananas (1.35 per cent), non-food items Hi-Speed Diesel (20.69 per cent), Petrol Super(19.91 per cent) and Toilet Soap (1.40 per cent) with joint impact of (2.09 per cent) into the overall SPI for combined group of (2.00 per cent).

On the other hand, decrease observed in the prices of Chicken (4.68 per cent ), Garlic (2.75 per cent), Wheat Flour (1.91 per cent), Tomatoes (1.26 per cent) and LPG (0.74 per cent).

READ MORE: Food inflation rural increases by 14.6% in February 2022

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 28 (54.90 per cent) items increased, 05 (9.81 per cent) items decreased and 18 (35.29 per cent) items remained stable.

The year on year trend depicts an increase of 20.04 per cent, Onions (177.62 per cent), Tomatoes (152.57 per cent), Mustard Oil (70.50 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 Kg (68.02 per cent), Garlic (67.44 per cent), Pulse Masoor (66.92 per cent), Petrol (64.78 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (64.72 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 2.5 Kg (62.43 per cent), LPG (60.14 per cent), Diesel (56.45 per cent) and Washing Soap (42.92 per cent), while major decrease observed in the prices of Chillies Powdered (43.42 per cent), Pulse Moong (21.62 per cent), Electricity charges for Q1 (11.71 per cent), Sugar (11.16 per cent), Bananas (9.95 per cent), Potatoes (6.89 per cent) and Gur (1.46 per cent).

June 3, 2022
SECP’s company registration goes up to 169,919 till May 2022

ISLAMABAD: The total number of company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has increased to 169,919 up to May 30, 2022.

The SECP registered 1,906 new companies in May 2022. This shows an increase of 19 per cent as compared to corresponding period last year.

READ MORE: SECP, FBR integration brings 2,365 companies under tax net

Total capitalization (paid-up-capital) with regard to newly incorporated companies for the current month stood at Rs3.5 billion.

Foreign investment has been reported in 51 new companies from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Korea South, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UK and the USA.

In May, about 63 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while 35 percent were registered as single member companies. Two percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership (LLP).

READ MORE: RDA: SECP exempts banks from obtaining license

About 99.8 percent companies were registered online, while 195 foreign users were registered from overseas.

The real estate development & construction sector took the lead with incorporation of 334, trading with 282, information technology with 260, services with 172, tourism with 69, education with 65, ecommerce with 64, food & beverages, and textile with 56 each, marketing & advertisement with 54, corporate agricultural farming with 43, transport with 42, engineering with 41, pharmaceutical with 40, healthcare, and chemical with 31 each, mining & quarrying with 26, auto & allied with 23, power generation with 22, logging with 21, cables and electric goods with 20, cosmetics & toiletries with 17, communication with 14, broadcasting & telecasting with 13, fuel & energy with 12, and 98 companies were registered in other sectors.

READ MORE: SEC Pakistan amends regulations to facilitate startups

As a result of integration of SECP with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and various provincial departments, 1,562 companies were registered with FBR for generation of National Tax Number (NTN), 41 companies with Emplyees Old-Age Benefit Institution EOBI, 22 companies with PESSI/SESSI, and 26 companies with Excise and Taxation department, simultaneously through the SECP portal interface.

READ MORE: MoU signed for digital aggregation of insurance products

June 3, 2022

Pakistan hikes petroleum prices up to 50.71% in a week

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government led by a coalition government has sharply increased petroleum prices by up to 50.71 per cent in just one week.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Thursday made second announcement in just span of one week to increase the prices of petroleum products around Rs30 per liter each time.

The new petroleum prices per liter effective from June 03, 2022 are:

Description	Price on May 26, 2022	Price on June 03, 2022	Difference	Percent increase
Petrol	Rs149.86	Rs209.86	Rs60	40%
High Speed Diesel	Rs144.15	Rs204.15	Rs60	41.62%
Kerosene oil	Rs129.56	Rs181.94	Rs52.38	45%
Light Speed Diesel	Rs118.31	Rs178.31	Rs60	50.71%

A statement issued by the finance division on Thursday stated that crude oil and petroleum prices are increasing substantially in the international market.

Maintaining POL prices at the hugely subsidized rates results in increasing both budget deficit and imports.

The subsidized rates of these POL products also poses supply chain risk, the finance division said.

The current fiscal position and market prices leave no option for the government but to increase the prices. Therefore, the government has decided to increase the prices of petroleum products with effect from June 03, 2022 keeping petroleum levy and sales tax at zero per cent.

“We note that the government is still losing money on petrol, high speed diesel and light diesel oil,” the finance division added.

The previous PTI government in February 2022 decided to freeze the prices of petroleum products at the level mentioned above in the table on May 26, 2022 up to June 30, 2022. However, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from the office through a no-confidence motion on April 10, 2022.

Since then, the new coalition government also maintained the prices till May 26, 2022. But under pressure of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of next tranche of around $1 billion the government had no option but to increase the prices.

Analysts said that the significant hike in prices of petroleum products would bring a storm of inflation as POL prices are directly linked to all the prices of essential and non-essential items.

June 3, 2022

Pakistan’s trade deficit balloons $43.33 bn in 11 months

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit ballooned to $43.33 billion during first 11 months (July – May) of fiscal year 2021/2022 owing to massive rise in import bill during the same period.

According to trade data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday, the trade deficit widened by 58 per cent to $43.334 billion during first eleven months of the current fiscal year as compared with $27.45 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s imports hit record high at $65.47 bn in 10 months

Pakistan’s import bill massively increased to $72.18 billion during the period under review as compared with $50.03 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, showing an increase of 44.28 per cent.

On the other hand, exports have increased by 28 per cent to $28.85 billion during July – May 2021/2022 as compared with $22.57 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s March trade deficit widens by only 5.5%

The exports registered 55.66 per cent growth to $2.60 billion in the month of May 2022 as compared with $1.67 billion in the same month of the last year.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s trade deficit widens to $32 billion in 8MFY22

Meanwhile, import bill for the month of May 2022 increased by 25.43 per cent to $6.44 billion as compared with $5.297 billion in the same month of the last year.

This resulted in widening of trade deficit by 11.50 per cent to $4.043 billion in the month of May 2022 as compared with the deficit of $3.62 billion in the same month of the last year.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s trade deficit widens by 92% in seven months

June 2, 2022
SBP’s forex reserves fall two-year low to $9.72 billion

KARACHI: The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell two years low to $9.72 billion by week ended May 27, 2022, a statement said on Thursday.

The SBP foreign exchange reserves were at $10.089 billion a week ago i.e. May 20, 2022. The central bank said that its reserves were decreased by $366 million to $ 9.723 billion due to external debt repayment.

READ MORE: Moody’s changes Pakistan’s outlook to negative

The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves were at $9.96 billion on June 19, 2020.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by week ended August 27, 2021. Since touching the peak the central bank’s foreign exchange witnessed a continuous decline. The official reserves of the SBP fell around $10.423 billion by week ended May 27, 2022 from touching the peak on August 27, 2021.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation up by 13.8% in May 2022

The official reserves of the SBP also reduced to payment for 1.46 months for import cover.

Overall the foreign exchange reserves of the country declined by $379 million to $15.771 billion by week ended May 27, 2022 as compared with $16.150 billion a week ago.

READ MORE: Raw materials excluded from import banned items list

The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $11.547 billion.

The foreign exchange held by commercial banks witnessed a slight decline of $13 million to $6.048 billion by week ended May 27, 2022 as compared with $6.061 billion a week ago.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s high growth threatened by fiscal imbalances

June 2, 2022
Pakistan allows conditional import of CBU vehicles

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has allowed conditional import of Completely Built Unit (CBU) motor vehicles, which have been banned through SRO 598(I)/2022.

The country on May 19, 2022 banned import of luxury and non-essential items in order to save foreign exchange and support the local currency, which depreciated massively.

READ MORE: Raw materials excluded from import banned items list

Through SRO 598(I)/2022 issued May 19, 2022, the ministry of commerce imposed ban on CBU vehicles which are importable under 49 tariff lines.

However, the ministry of commerce clarified that prohibition of import would not apply on import of CBU vehicles if the imports in Pak Rupee (PKR) or imports through barter mechanism by land routes.

The ministry of commerce on May 21, 2022 issued a press release stating that in order to address the balance of payments (BOP) situation in the country resulting from the increase in current account deficit (CAD) during the first 10 month of the current FY-22, import of certain luxury and non-essential items has been prohibited, vide SRO 598(I)/2022 dated 19th May, 2022.

READ MORE: Dollar weakens for 5th straight day; ends at Rs197.59

However, to address the concerns of certain business quarters with regard to the implementation of the said SRO, it is clarified that in terms of proviso to the paragraph-4 of the Import Policy Order, 2022, the imports where Bill of Lading (B/L) or irrevocable Letter of Credit (L/C) was issued or established prior to the notification of the SRO 598(I)/2022 dated 19.05.2022 shall be exempt from the operation of the SRO.

Hence, imported goods for which B/L or irrevocable L/C was established prior to 19th May, 2022 shall not be subject to the prohibitions contained in the said SRO.

Moreover, the business community and the general public are invited to share their concerns, proposals or any anomalies with respect to the said SRO at [email protected].

June 2, 2022
FBR exempts sales tax on oxygen gas import

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken a significant step by exempting sales tax on the import of oxygen gas.
(more…)

June 2, 2022