KARACHI: Pakistani workers living abroad have sent $2.52 billion as remittances to their homeland in the month of October 2021, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Sunday.
The SBP said that the workers’ remittances continued their strong streak as inflows recorded $2.5 billion in October 2021, up 10.2 percent (y/y) and only marginally lower compared to last month (5.7 percent).
In addition to remaining above $2 billion since June 2020, this is the eighth consecutive month when remittances have been close to or above $2.5 billion.
On a cumulative basis, remittances have risen to $10.6 billion during the first four months of FY22 (July-October 2021), which is 11.9% higher than the same period last year.
Remittance inflows during the first four months of FY22 have mainly been sourced from Saudi Arabia ($ 2.7 billion), UAE ($ 2.0 billion), UK ($ 1.5 billion) and USA ($ 1.1 billion).
Proactive policy measures by the Government and SBP to incentivize the use of formal channels and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic have positively contributed towards the sustained improvement in remittance inflows since last year.
The SBP decided to increase the average (CRR), to be maintained during a period of two weeks by scheduled banks, from 5 percent to 6 percent and minimum CRR to be maintained each day from 3 percent to 4 percent.
CRR is the amount of money that banks are required to keep with State Bank of Pakistan and is applicable on demand liabilities and time liabilities with tenor of less than a year.
Time liabilities with tenor of more than one year shall continue to be exempted from maintenance of cash reserves.
With the economy recovering briskly from last year’s acute Covid shock, there is a need to gradually normalize policy settings, including the growth of monetary aggregates.
In recent months, real money supply growth has drifted above its trend. Today’s measure will moderate this growth as well as domestic demand, thereby helping to sustain the current economic recovery, achieve the government’s medium-term inflation target, and reduce pressures on the Pak Rupee (PKR).
In addition, this measure is likely to have positive impact on deposit mobilization as the banks would be encouraged to generate more deposits to cope with additional liquidity requirements for their operations.
This would incentivize banks to offer better returns on deposits to attract these funds; thus serving the SBP objective of encouraging savings.
It may also be highlighted that waiver of CRR on Time liabilities with tenor more than a year will encourage banks to raise more long-term deposits, which will facilitate asset-liability matching and enable banks to extend long term loans for construction and housing financing.
KARACHI: Ahead of World Diabetes Day, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has released new figures showing that the prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan has increased significantly as 33 million adults in Pakistan are now living with diabetes – a 70 per cent increase in past two years or since 2019.
According to IDF, in 2021, diabetes will be responsible for 400,000 deaths in the country– the highest number in the Middle-East and North Africa Region.
These findings from the 10th Edition of the IDF Diabetes Atlas, which will be published on December 6th, report that one in four adults (26.7 per cent) in Pakistan are living with diabetes – the highest national prevalence in the world.
Pakistan now has the third highest number of people living with diabetes in the world, after China (141 million) and India (74 million). An additional 11 million adults in Pakistan have Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT), which places them at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
More than quarters (26.9 per cent) of adults living with diabetes in Pakistan are undiagnosed. When diabetes is undetected or inadequately treated, people with diabetes are at risk of serious and life-threatening complications, such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and lower-limb amputation. These result in reduced quality of life and higher healthcare costs.
IDF says that 537 million adults are now living with diabetes worldwide — a rise of 16 per cent (74 million) since the previous IDF estimates in 2019. “The rapidly rising level of diabetes in Pakistan presents a significant challenge to the health and wellbeing of individuals and families in the country,” says Professor Abdul Basit, Director, Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology, Baqai Medical University.
This year marks 100 years since the discovery of insulin. This milestone presents a unique opportunity to reflect on the impact of diabetes and highlights the urgent need to improve access to care for the millions affected. An estimated 1 in 2 people with diabetes across the world who need insulin cannot access or afford it.
“We must do more to provide affordable and uninterrupted access to diabetes care for all in Pakistan, and around the world. Policy makers and health decision-makers must turn words into action to improve the lives of people with diabetes and prevent the condition in those at high risk of developing it,” concludes Basit.
Globally, 90 per cent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. The rise in the number of people with type 2 is driven by a complex interplay of socio-economic, demographic, environmental and genetic factors. Key contributors include urbanisation, an ageing population, decreasing levels of physical activity and increasing levels of overweight and obesity.
Much can be done to reduce the impact of diabetes. Evidence suggests that type 2 diabetes can often be prevented, while early diagnosis and access to appropriate care for all types of diabetes can avoid or delay complications in people living with the condition.
In Pakistan, the Diabetic Association of Pakistan has initiated the Diabetes Registry of Pakistan (DROP) and signed MOUs with a selection of provincial ministries and private organizations to ensure the accessibility, affordability and standardization of diabetes care in the country.
Key global and regional findings from the IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th Edition include:
One in ten (10.5 per cent) adults around the world are currently living with diabetes. The total number is predicted to rise to 643 million (11.3 per cent) by 2030 and to 783 million (12.2 per cent) by 2045.
1 in 6 adults (73 million) are living with diabetes in the Middle-East and North Africa Region.
An estimated 240 million people are living with undiagnosed diabetes worldwide – 27 million in the Middle-East and North Africa Region.
Diabetes was responsible for an estimated USD 966 billion in global health expenditure in 2021. This represents a 316 per cent increase over 15 years. The Middle-East and North Africa Region accounts for 3 per cent (33 billion USD) of the global expenditure.
Excluding the mortality risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 6.7 million adults are estimated to have died as a result of diabetes, or its complications, in 2021. That’s more than one in ten (12.2 per cent) of global deaths from all causes. The Middle-East and North Africa Region accounts for 12 per cent (796,000) of total diabetes-related deaths.
Around 541 million adults, or 10.6 per cent of adults worldwide, have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), placing them at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Almost one in nine (48 million) people affected by IGT live in the Middle-East and North Africa Region.
The theme selected by IDF for World Diabetes Day – 14 November – is Access to Diabetes Care. IDF is calling on national governments to provide the best possible care for people living with diabetes and develop policies to improve diabetes screening and type 2 diabetes prevention, especially among young people.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Dr. Arif Alvi has ordered two banks i.e. Al Baraka Bank Ltd (ABBL) and Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) to pay their customers in order to provide relief in fraud cases.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday has taken major decision to ban removal of sugar bags from factory premises without affixation of tax stamp.
The condition has been imposed to implement track and trace system for monitoring of production and supply of the commodity for the crushing season 2021-2022.
In order to implement the decision the FBR issued Sales Tax General Order (STGO) No. 05 on November 11, 2021. “No sugar bags shall be allowed to be removed from a production site, factor premises or manufacturing plant without affixation of tax stamps/Unique Identification Marking (UIMs) with effect from November 11, 2021, which are to be obtained/procured from FBR’s Licensee M/s. AJCL/MITAS/Authentix Consortium,” it said.
The purpose of imposing the condition is to launch electronic monitoring of the commodity as the sugar crushing for the season 2021-2022 is about to start.
Sources in the FBR said that the track and trace system was not fully installed at sugar mills. There are still few sugar mills that were in process to install the electronic monitoring system.
In the meantime, the FBR may also deploy tax officials at the sugar mills by invoking Section 40 B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 for parallel monitoring.
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia will disburse cash deposits to Pakistan under assistance package pledged on October 26, 2021, Saudi diplomat said on Thursday.
While talking to the Pakistan’s state media Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki said Saudi Arabia will disburse cash deposits under the pledged financial assistance after approval of the Royal Court and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a few days.
“This will be soon InshaAllah. There will be the agreement from the Royal Court and the MoU will be signed in a few days for the payment, and also for the deferred oil payment [facility],” the Saudi envoy said in an exclusive interview with APP, during his visit to the headquarters.
Saudi Arabia had recently announced to provide Pakistan $3 billion as a cash deposit with the State Bank to address its balance-of-payments crisis. Also, the Kingdom had pledged a one-year deferred payment facility for the import of oil, worth up to another $1.2 billion.
Ambassador Al-Malki said the government of Saudi Arabia considered Pakistan as “a dear country” with a very deep and strong relationship.
He said Saudia Arabia always stood with Pakistan and extended support to it on multiple occasions, adding that the relationship with Pakistan was regardless of any government in power.
“Our connection is with the Pakistani flag and we consider it our brotherly country,” he said, adding that he saw a “very bright future of Pakistan”.
The Saudi ambassador mentioned the camaraderie between the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Prime Minister Imran Khan and expressed confidence that the relationship would strengthen in the future.
In three years, the six visits of PM Imran Khan to the Kingdom reflect the level of relationship, he added.
The Saudi envoy said Pakistani people loved the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the core of their hearts and held in high esteem the Custodian of the holy mosques.
In this regard a financing agreement amounting to $761.5 million has been signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Government of Pakistan and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) for import of crude oil, refined petroleum products and LNG etc.
The financing agreement was signed by Mian Asad Hayaud Din, Secretary, EAD and Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO, ITFC. The facility has been made effective immediately and ready for utilization by Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (PSO), Pak Arab Refinery Ltd (PARCO) and Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) for import of oil and gas.
This Syndicated Murabaha Financing facility of $ 761.5 million is for a period of one year and is a part of umbrella Framework Agreement signed with ITFC in June 2021 for total envelop of $ 4.5 billion ($ 1.5 million annually) for a period of three-years.
Originally, ITFC had agreed to provide the financing of US$ 300 million. However, due to growing energy needs of the country and enhanced confidence level of international financial institutions on economic reforms and recovery amid COVID-19 pandemic, the financing was over-subscribed by 2.5 times i.e. from $ 300 million to from $ 761.5 million.
The financing facility will also be helpful in financing oil and gas import bill of the country and easing of pressure on foreign exchange reserves of the country.
Mian Asad Hayaud Din, Secretary, EAD appreciated the support for ITFc for arranging US$ 761.5 million for trade financing. He lauded the efforts of Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO, ITFC and his team for making this transaction successful.
The ITFC and GOP have also agreed to continue their cooperation in future to mobilize financial resources to support Pakistan in its endeavours to achieve its economic growth targets through ITFC financing facility.
FPCCI President Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo, while praising the government for launching the SME Policy, said the defined annual sales turnover of a meager Rs250 million does not reflect the current ground realities of Pakistan; as when that threshold was set, the exchange rate was around Rs60 for a dollar, which has now climbed to over Rs170.
Therefore, he has suggested, the new limit should be set at Rs1.5 billion for SMEs.
FPCCI Chief has reiterated his proposal for a simplified and streamlined taxation regime; including, easy-to-fill tax return forms; end to corruption; phased lowering of sales tax rates, etc. through alignment it to FPCCI’s proposal called Simplification of Taxation System in Pakistan sent to the Prime Minister of Pakistan back in February 2021.
The FPCCI chief hailed the concerted efforts of Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for Industries & Production, for launching long-overdue SME Policy of Pakistan.
The SME Policy has been in the making for many years now and the process unfortunately got deferred many times over, he added.
Maggo said that financing is the lifeline for SMEs and the SBP’s current SAAF Scheme has allowed a banking spread of 8 per cent to commercial banks; on top of 1 per cent refinancing rate of SBP; which makes it 9 per cent for the SMEs. That much cost of capital is unaffordable, unproductive and unfeasible. FPCCI has proposed an interest rate of 3 per cent for SMEs to make it viable for small businesses & entrepreneurs.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo has demanded that the government should update the definitions of Micro, Small and Medium-sized organizations and make it MSMEs on the lines of current best practices internationally; for devising preferential treatment protocols based on peculiar ground realities of Pakistan. MSMEs are the engines of growth & employment generation, he added.
Addressing the glaring issues in labour-related provincial & federal levies on SMEs in Pakistan, Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo has proposed that all the provincial and federal levies to be clubbed together to make a single levy to be charged either as a percentage of turnovers or on some other pertinent criteria for the sake of simplification; but, protecting the present collections for the purposes these departments have been created as well.
In order to keep demand-side variables in SMEs favour, President FPCCI has suggested that the government should keep their procurement from SMEs strong & steady; incorporating procurement for CPEC-related projects.
KARACHI: Following are the open market exchange rates of foreign currencies in Pak Rupee (PKR) in Pakistan on November 10, 2021 (The rates are updated at 09:55 AM Pakistan Standard Time):
Currency
Buying
Selling
Australian Dollar (AUD)
126.50
128.00
Bahrain Dinar (BHD)
386.75
388.50
Canadian Dollar (CAD)
137.50
139.50
China Yuan (CNY)
23.75
23.90
Danish Krone (DNK)
23.45
23.75
Euro (EUR)
198.00
200.00
Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
16.70
16.95
Indian Rupee (INR)
2.03
2.10
Japanese Yen (JPY)
1.41
1.44
Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)
481.70
484.20
Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
36.45
36.80
NewZealand $ (NZD)
96.45
97.15
Norwegians Krone (NOK)
17.50
17.75
Omani Riyal (OMR)
392.70
394.70
Qatari Riyal (QAR)
39.90
40.50
Saudi Riyal (SAR)
45.85
46.30
Singapore Dollar (SGD)
126.50
128.00
Swedish Korona (SEK)
18.50
18.75
Swiss Franc (CHF)
159.90
160.80
Thai Bhat (THB)
4.80
4.90
U.A.E Dirham (AED)
47.50
48.00
UK Pound Sterling (GBP)
230.50
232.50
US Dollar (USD)
173.00
174.50
Disclaimer: Team PKRevenue.com provides the available rates of the open market, which are subject to change every hour. Team PKRevenue.com provides the available exchange rates at the time of posting the story. So the team is not responsible for any inaccuracy of the data.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to deploy officials at sugar mills for monitoring of production and supply of sugar, sources said on Tuesday.
The sources said that the tax offices having jurisdiction over sugar mills would post their officials for the crushing season 2021-2022.
In this regard the FBR would invoke Section 40B of Sales Tax Act, 1990 for physical monitoring of manufacturing and supply of the commodity.
In this regard, tax offices in Lahore have initiated the process for deploying the officials at the sugar mills. The Regional Tax Office (RTO) Lahore has placed its officials at the disposal of chief commissioner Inland Revenue, Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) Lahore.
The sources said that the monitoring would help bringing down retail price of the commodity in the local market.
It is worth mentioning that the sugar prices have gone up to Rs160 per kilogram in some parts of the country. However, as the crushing is coming near the prices have come down.
This year the FBR has planned to document all the supply chain from manufacturing to the retail sale of the sugar.
Through Finance Act, 2021 the treatment of sales tax on supply of sugar was changed and it was brought taxation at the retail price. The FBR through Circular No. 02 of 2021 stated: “Currently, the price of white crystalline sugar is fixed at Rs60 per kg in terms of SRO 812(I)/2016 dated September 02, 2016, which is considerably below the actual market price of the commodity.
“In order to address this anomaly, sugar is proposed to be included in Third Schedule of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, so that sales tax is charged and collected on actual retail price of the product at the manufacturing stage.
“This measure would not only ensure due payment of tax but also help in putting a more effective price control mechanism in place for sugar.”
The rate of sales tax at 17 per cent on retail price was to be applicable on sugar supply from July 01, 2021. However, the implementation was deferred till November 30, 2021. Therefore, the normal sales tax rate on sugar supply will be applicable from December 01, 2021.
Meantime, the FBR has increased the minimum sales tax rate on domestically produced sugar to Rs72.22 per kg from Rs60 per kg.
