KARACHI: The share market experienced a day of fluctuating activity on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ending with a marginal gain of 5 points. The index closed at 40,569 points, compared to the previous day’s closing of 40,564 points, reflecting the restrained movement throughout the session.
(more…)Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz
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Rupee gains against dollar for 23rd consecutive days
Karachi, Pakistan: The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) extended its winning streak against the US Dollar (USD) for the 23rd consecutive trading day on Friday.
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HUBCO issues Sukuk wroth Rs6bn for capital requirements
KARACHI: The Hubco Power Company Limited (HUBCO) has issued Sukuk worth Rs6 billion for financing the ongoing capital requirement of the company.
In a communication sent to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, it said that HUBCO through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hub Power Holding Limited, had executed and issued an Islamic Shariah compliant discounted Sukuk of Rs6 billion.
The Sukuk is partnered with Arif Habib Limited as its arranger, Meezan Bank as Shariah Adivsor and is subscribed by financial institutions, investment companies and other eligible institutions.
“The purpose of this Sukuk is to finance the ongoing capital requirements of the company,” it added.
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Tax offices issue notices for already filed return of income
KARACHI: Tax offices are issuing notices to a number taxpayers for filing income tax returns of past years, where the taxpayers have already made compliance.
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Committee discusses unsold spectrum of next generation mobile services
ISLAMABAD: Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue on Thursday chaired a meeting of the advisory committee for the release of unsold spectrum of next generation mobile services (NGMS).
Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry also participated in the meeting.
The committee was briefed by Chairman PTA and Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology about the latest developments on the sale of available spectrum of next generation mobile services.
The members of Frequency Allocation Board also shared their input on the subject.
The committee was briefed that the process for hiring of the consultant for the sale of available spectrum would be completed within 60 days and report will be prepared and submitted before the committee accordingly.
It is expected that the initial report will be ready by December 2020.
The process for the sale of spectrum will follow after the hiring of the consultant and tentatively would be completed within this financial year.
Adviser Finance, as Chairman of the Committee, directed to complete the task of the hiring of the consultant at the earliest.
He also stated that the whole process of auction must be transparent and an officer may be designated to apprise the public about the progress regarding sale of spectrum on regular basis.
The whole process would contribute towards strengthening and expanding communications / IT Services across the country, would create more job opportunities, and improve the ease of doing business.
The next meeting of the Advisory Committee is expected to take place in December 2020.
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Jazz pays Rs5 billion income tax liability on court order
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited (PMCL) – the operator of Mobilink / Jazz on Thursday paid an amount of Rs5 billion out of total Rs22 billion as tax demand created by Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) Islamabad.
The payment has been made as per the directions of Islamabad High Court (IHC) order in Income Tax reference No. 32/2020 dated November 10, 2020.
Earlier, the IHC allowed PMCL to deposit an amount of Rs5 billion against income tax liability.
A division bench of the IHC in a hearing on November 10, 2020 granted the application of the petitioner i.e. PMCL to deposit Rs5 billion. The high court also granted interim relief to the petitioner and suspended notices sent to the applicant under Section 140 of the Income Tax Ordinance, till the next date of hearing i.e. December 02, 2020.
During the proceedings the counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was willing and ready to pay a sum of Rs5 billion.
The counsel for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) submitted that the sum offered to be deposited by the petitioner was meager as compared to the total liability. The counsel submitted that the applicant is liable to pay a sum of Rs22 billion plus penalty etc.
The LTO Islamabad last month initiated tax recovery of Rs25 billion from M/s. PMCL by sealing of its business premises.
The LTO Islamabad took the action against the mobile operator as income tax amount Rs25.39 billion was outstanding against the defaulter.
“The defaulter is refraining itself deliberately, dishonestly and without lawful excuse to discharge tax liability and thus causing huge loss to the national exchequer,” according to a notice of LTO Islamabad.
While responding to the report, the PMCL issued the following statement:
“Jazz is a law-abiding and responsible corporate citizen. Our contribution to Pakistan’s economy over the past 25 years is significant.
“We have received a notice from FBR this afternoon. Jazz has made tax submissions based on legal interpretations of the tax owed. We will review and take measures under our legal obligations and will collaborate with all concerned institutions for an early resolution of this issue.”
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FBR issues TORs for probing complaints against IR, Customs officials
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday issued Terms of Reference (TORs) for processing of complaints and launch probe against officials of Inland Revenue and Pakistan Customs.
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SBP cuts loan write-off history to 10 years
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed to reduce the history of write-off/waived loans and advances for corporate borrowers from 15 years to 10 years.
A statement issued on Thursday, the central bank said it had decided to reduce the reflection period of written off/waived loans and advances for corporate borrowers in the Electronic Credit Information Bureau (eCIB) of SBP from 15 years to 10 years.
eCIB is a repository of information about the credit history of borrowers of the banking system and is largely used by banks/Financial Institutions to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers.
This decision follows a detailed assessment of international practices.
It has been a general impression that reflecting the negative history/ write-off for a longer period might deprive the borrowers of a fresh start and would exclude borrowers from access to finance for longer periods (following the write-offs/waivers) regardless of the borrowers’ current financial performance and other favorable information.
It may be noted that various business bodies and Chamber Members frequently also raised such concerns.
They were of the view that placing a one-time write-off/waiver in eCIB for 15 years is a long period particularly when a business has paid back or settled its transaction with the bank. It creates difficulties for businesses in availing fresh financing for a long time.
Decreasing the reflection period to 10 years will bring our system in line with the international practice and provide a conducive business environment to boost economic activities besides helping to improve the country ranking in the Ease of Doing Survey conducted by the World Bank periodically.
Credit Information Bureau/Credit registry (eCIB) is one of the supervisory tools used worldwide to assist the supervisors in off-site supervision and on-site examinations.
SBP established its Credit Registry i.e. eCIB in 1992 with the objective to complement its role of prudential supervision and assessment of the risk monitoring functions of its regulated FIs.
Since then, the eCIB of SBP has evolved from manual to modern electronic online credit reporting system fueled by improvements in system and technology.
The existing eCIB system is not only helping in the expansion of credit but also enabling FIs to move from the traditional subjective approach of granting credit to a more efficient lending process.
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Country’s forex reserves increase to $19.907 billion
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $553 million to $19.907 billion by week ended November 06, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.354 billion by the week ended October 29, 2020.
The official reserves of the SBP increased by $558 million for the week ended November 06, 2020 as against $12.183 billion a week ago.
The SBP attributed the increase to receipt of $500 million as government loan proceeds.
The foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks eased to $7.166 billion by week ended November 06, 2020 as compared with $7.171 billion a week ago.
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SBP blocks payment for subscribing Indian contents
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan has banned online payment for subscribing Indian entertainment content. In a circular issued to all banks, the SBP directed to block the payment to Indian content.
The central bank said that the decision had been taken on the directives of federal cabinet to stop different modes of payments including credit cards for subscribing Indian content in Pakistan including Zee5 video-on-demand service.
“In this regard, it is advised to ensure meticulous compliance of aforementioned instructions of the government of Pakistan and submit compliance status to PSD, SBP by November 13, 2020,” the central bank said.