Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, has lauded the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for achieving record-breaking revenue collection in July 2021, signaling a robust start to the fiscal year.
(more…)Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz
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PM directs finalizing tight gas policy by next month
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed authorities to finalize Tight Gas Policy by end of September 2021.
The prime minister chaired a meeting to discuss the tight gas resources.
The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Shaukat Fayyaz Tareen, Hamad Azhar, Asad Umar, Special Assistant Tabish Gohar and concerned senior officials.
The meeting discussed in detail the potential resources of Tight Gas in the country.
The meeting was informed that Pakistan is expected to have huge reserves of tight-gas. These reserves could help reduce the country’s dependence on expensive imported LNG.
The prime minister directed that the Tight Gas Policy be reviewed and finalized by the end of September 2021.
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Pakistan’s forex reserves ease to $24.853 billion
KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan have eased by $23 million to $24.853 billion by the week ended July 30, 2021.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $24.876 billion by the week ended July 23, 2021, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP increased by $16 million to $17.846 billion by the week ended July 30, 2021 as compared with $17.83 billion a week ago.
The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks declined by $39 million to $7.007 billion by week ended July 30, 2021 as against $7.046 billion by week ended July 23, 2021.
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Tax rates on prize bond winning for tax year 2021-2022
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has outlined the income tax rates applicable to prize bonds and lottery winnings under the recently updated Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, for the fiscal year 2021/2022.
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FBR starts mandatory registration of brand names
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started registration of brand names, which is mandatory for manufacturers to sell their products.
The FBR on Tuesday issued Sales Tax General Order (STGO) No. 07 of 2021 for licensing of brand name under Section 40E of Sales Tax Act, 1990 for specified sectors.
According to the STGO made available to PKRevenue.com the FBR issued procedure for licensing of brand name for specified sectors including tobacco products, beverages, sugar, fertilizer, cement and petroleum products.
The revenue body said that all existing and new manufacturers of specified sectors are required to register their brand of each product with the FBR before selling the same in the market.
Every manufacturer will have to submit an application to the Project Director (Track & Trace System), FBR, along with the supportive documents. The application shall include all the details and operations regarding their business / activity.
The FBR said that each application for brand registration shall contain all the requisite information about the applicant. The information should contain manufacturer’s full name, trade name, STRN, NTN, date and place of incorporation, name of its lead directors and any other information to allow identification to take place.
In case of any discrepancy found in application, project director shall issue a letter to the manufacturer about the missing/incomplete details. The manufacturer will have to respond to the letter within a week to avoid cancellation of its application.
During the application process, if any information/document is found to be incorrect/fake, the registration process may be suspended immediately and manufacturer shall be issued a show cause notice to stop all the activities related to the manufacturing and sale of the rejected/not approved brand.
The FBR further said that no manufacturer shall be allowed to sell their products in the market without having their brand registered with the FBR. However, they may be allowed to sell the product from the date of application’s submission.
“If any unregistered brand’s product is found in the market, the IREN shall have the authority to confiscate all of the available stock in the market,” it added.
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KSE-100 gains 305 points amid positive sentiments
KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 305 points on Tuesday owing to positive sentiments prevailed over expected inflows from the IMF.
The KSE-100 of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 47,758 points as against previous day’s closing of 47,453 points, showing an increase of 305 points.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced an allocation of $650 billion to boost global liquidity. Pakistan is likely to get around $2.8 billion out of the allocation by month end.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued moving up today albeit with an improvement in traded volumes.
O&GMCs, Banks, Refinery, Technology and Textile sectors contributed positively to the index whereas E&P and Steel sector stocks remained under pressure.
Optimism brewed on the back of rupee depreciation that will have positive bearing on the earnings of Textile, Technology & E&P sectors; as well as upcoming financial results.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 36.3 million shares, followed by TELE (29.4 million) and BYCO (29.3 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+64 points), Technology (+63 points), Banks (+55 points), O&GMCs (+42 points) and Refinery (+26 points).
Volumes increased from 252.3 million shares to 443.2 million shares (+75 per cent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 75 per cent to reach US$ 98.8 million as against US$ 56.4 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TELE, BYCO, TPL and CPHL, which formed 30 per cent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include TRG (+51 points), HBL (+24 points), MEBL (+21 points), MLCF (+19 points) and POL (+17 points).
Stocks that contributed negatively include ENGRO (-10 points), OGDC (-10 points), HMB (-9 points), PAKT (-8 points) and HUBC (-8 points).
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Engro Fertilizers wins three awards
KARACHI: Engro Fertilizers Limited has been recognized at the prestigious Pakistan Digital Awards 2021. The company received three key awards for “Most Innovative Fintech Solution Provider”, “Best Payment Technology” and “Best Banking Tech of the Year”.
Faced with the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, Engro Fertilizers was quick to adapt to the new normal and led the industry towards digitization in all respects, from customer and vendor support to digital payment solutions and virtual operations.
This was the first time that the Company was participating at the Pakistan Digital Awards. Out of the 94 categories, it was able to bag three Best in Class awards at the ceremony.
Receiving this award, Imran Ahmed, CFO of Engro Fertilizers Limited, shared: “The digitization journey that we embarked on a couple of years back has finally started to deliver results as we are now benefiting from improved availability of quality information and better control environment.
“We are thrilled by this recognition that was in the face of stiff competition. This encourages us to redouble our efforts in leveraging digitization to deliver operational excellence and differentiated customer experiences in the days and years to come”.
With “The Best Banking Tech of the Year” and “Best Payment Technology” award, Engro Fertilizers has been celebrated for setting new standards in the fertilizer industry through the launch of various innovative and automated financing solutions in engagement with its banking partners. It co-created Pakistan’s first-ever solution to electronically manage bank guarantees that will transform this banking process.
The initiative has reduced ordering cycle, provided customers convenience by not requiring them to make a physical visit to the bank and enhanced corporate services. Further, the move towards paperless operations has resulted in a favorable impact on the environment, and ensured transparency and swiftness of transactions.
In the “Most Innovative Fintech Data Solution Provider” category, the Company has been recognized for the group-wide implementation of new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system OneSAP, which has been endorsed as Pakistan’s largest SAP S/4 HANA digital business transformation.
By leveraging this technology, the Company was able to achieve the global benchmark in financial reporting by ensuring monthly closing within 24-hours. The OneSAP implementation has enabled the Company to manage business operations remotely with flexibility for the employees, reduced operational costs, and timely and accurate flow of financial information to the Management to facilitate timely decision making.
Expressing his delight at winning the awards, Nadir Qureshi – CEO of Engro Fertilizers – said: “It is humbling for us to have received these awards in the face of incredibly tough and distinguished competition. Guided by the Board’s vision and persistent efforts of our team, we have been able to make a swift transition towards digital platforms to navigate the challenges of global pandemic.
“By embracing digitization, we have improved business efficiency, customer service and set a precedent for others to follow in the industry. Going forward, we will InshAllah continue to lead the industry in setting new standards of digital excellence.”
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Rupee weakens by 22 paisas in interbank
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee (PKR) ended down by 22 paisas against the dollar on Tuesday as demand for external payment remained high.
The rupee ended at Rs163.89 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs163.67 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that the external payment had put pressure on the local currency.
However, they said that the pressure would ease in coming days as recent pledge of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for providing $650 billion to boost global liquidity.
The experts said that Pakistan would also get around $2.8 billion under this allocation by month end.
The local currency fell to Rs164 in intraday trading in the interbank foreign exchange market. However, it made some recovery later in the day.
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Income tax return filing hits record high
The income tax return filing in Pakistan has hit an all-time high, with a remarkable 3.53 million returns submitted for Tax Year 2020.
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ICI Pakistan Limited acquires NutriCo
KARACHI: ICI Pakistan Limited on Tuesday announced 51 per cent shareholding and making NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited its subsidiary.
In a communication to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company said that ICI Pakistan Limited had successfully completed the acquisition of 55,013 ordinary shares (equivalent to 11 per cent shareholding) of NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited.
Following the acquisition, the total shareholding of ICI Pakistan Limited in NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited stands 51 per cent, making NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited a subsidiary of ICI Pakistan Limited.