Pkrevenue.com

Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz

  • Foreign exchange reserves increase to $19.961 billion

    Foreign exchange reserves increase to $19.961 billion

    KARACHI: The country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $118 million to $19.961 billion by week ended September 4, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.843 billion by week ended August 28, 2020.

    The official reserves of the SBP increased by $95 million to $12.808 billion by week ended September 04, 2020 as against $12.713 billion a week ago.

    The SBP attributed the increase in reserves to proceeds of $121 million from Asian Development Bank (ADB).

    The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks also increased by $23 million to $7.153 billion as against $7.130 billion a week ago.

  • Stock market gains 625 points as investors welcome Roshan Digital Accounts

    Stock market gains 625 points as investors welcome Roshan Digital Accounts

    KARACHI: The stock market gained 625 points on Thursday as investors responded positively to a banking facility for non-resident Pakistanis.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 42,647 points as against 42,022 points showing an increase of 625 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that boisterous activity was witnessed at the Bourse in response to the Roshan Digital Account for Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRP) that would facilitate investment by Pakistani diaspora in Pakistan Stock Exchange listed shares as well as Government issued Securities.

    Activity was seen across the board but was more pronounced in O&GMCs, E&P and Banking sectors. PSO traded near upper circuit, whereas OGDC, PPL and POL also responded positively to the uptick in international crude oil prices overnight.

    Fertilizer sector also showed positivity as High Court granted stay on GIDC collection. Technology sector realized trading volume of 138.8 million shares, followed by Transport (126.6 million) and Banks (76.6 million). Among scrips, PIBTL topped the volumes with 121.7 million shares, followed by HASCOL (48 million) and WTL (42.9 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+176 points), Cement (+85 points), E&P (+85 points), Fertilizer (+64 points) and Power (+57prts).

    Volumes increased from 707 million shares to 885.0 million shares (+25 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 27 percent to reach US$ 163.2 million as against US$ 128.1 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PIBTL, HASCOL, WTL, PTC and KEL, which formed 33 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include MCB (+65 points), LUCK (+62 points), HUBC (+53 points), PPL (+49 points) and PSO (+37 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-13 points), SYS (-12 points), NATF (-9 points), ATLH (-8 points) and BAHL (-4 points).

  • Group formed to remove irritants in FBR-NADRA data sharing

    Group formed to remove irritants in FBR-NADRA data sharing

    ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Thursday constituted a high powered group to remove difficulties in data sharing between Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and National Database Registration Authority (NADRA).

    The adviser stressed on the need to establish a link between NADRA and FBR for data sharing and data analytics.

    He created a subgroup of members to point out and sort the difficulties that are hindering the progress on the data sharing issue between the two organizations.

    This subgroup consists of Hammad Azhar, Ishrat Hussain, Faiz Kamoka, Chairman FBR and Chairman NADRA; the subgroup will share its report with the chairman in a week.

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the second meeting of the FBR Policy Board here at the FBR Headquarters.

    Chairman FBR briefed the Adviser on the efforts the institute has been making to improve the abilities and expertise of its human resource and on the progress of the automation drive of FBR/Customs.

    Chairman FBR briefed the Adviser on measures taken and future course planned to improve skills and competence of its staff by providing different in-house and foreign trainings to improve managerial competence and adopt a culture of performance based incentives including promotions.

    He also briefed the Adviser on the work being done on the IRIS (software) side to consolidate various application platforms into one to improve efficiency and performance.

    The Chairman further informed that a technologically advanced sales tax registration verification mechanism is introduced whereby officers with tablets will be sent to capture real time information and pictures including GPS coordinates of businesses requiring verification.

    Details of data sharing arrangements agreed to by 12 other organizations with FBR were also discussed in the meeting. The Adviser took a special notice of the difficulties the traders are facing due to stoppage of containers at the Torkham Border.

    Member customs informed that necessary steps have been taken and the issue will be resolved within the coming weeks.

    Syed Javed shared his recommendations on PRAL and told that CEO PRAL has been appointed. The next meeting of the policy Board will be held by the end of this month and the ToRs of the policy Board will be presented for approval.

    Hammad Azhar and Abdullah Yousaf shall prepare the said ToRs.

  • Rupee recovers 12 paisas against dollar

    Rupee recovers 12 paisas against dollar

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee recovered 12 paisas against dollar on Thursday owing to improved economic indicators, dealers said.

    The rupee ended Rs166.40 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs166.52 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that positive sentiments prevailed in the foreign exchange market due to launching of roshan digital accounts by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for overseas Pakistanis.

    They said that the investors hoped significant inflows of the foreign currency under this initiative of the government.

    The rupee recovered the value after losing 76 paisas during first three days of the current week.

  • Bank deposits reach all-time high at Rs16.327 trillion

    Bank deposits reach all-time high at Rs16.327 trillion

    Karachi – The banking sector in Pakistan has witnessed a historic surge in deposits, reaching an all-time high of Rs16.327 trillion by the end of August 2020, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

    (more…)
  • K-Electric experiences cyber-attack

    K-Electric experiences cyber-attack

    K-Electric Limited, the primary power utility provider for Karachi, faced a cyber-attack attempt earlier this week, resulting in the disruption of a few services. The company disclosed this incident in a statement released on Thursday, emphasizing that critical customer services remain unaffected.

    (more…)
  • FBR to introduce pre-filler return forms

    FBR to introduce pre-filler return forms

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is planning to introduce pre-filler return forms to save taxpayers’ time in filing the information every time they fill the form.

    Member IT FBR, Asim Ahmed said that the board had already obtained data of government employees from the AGPR for the purpose, and initially the pre-filler forms would be introduced for the government employees, which could be then extended to other possible tax filers.

    The FBR on Wednesday launched user-friendly mobile application for filing income tax returns and also introduced a new and simplified tax return form to facilitate filers to file their return with ease.

    Briefing the media about the various features of the application and new tax form, which is available at the website of the board as well as could be accessed through mobile phone application, member inland revenue FBR, Ch. Muhammad Tarique said it was after a great hard work by the IT department of the board that such application was developed.

    “You will feel it very easy to use it and file income tax returns,” he said while responding to various queries of the journalists.

    He said that the board also intends to launch an awareness campaign to educate people as well as its own staff to use the application, adding that it would also consider to attach a help guide with the application to help consumers resolve the issues at their own.

    He said that currently the application was available in English language only, however the board would consider to launch its Urdu version to facilitate maximum number of people.

    Member IT, Asim Ahmed said that although the board was having real time integration with NADRA and was using its database for various purposes, however said the FBR would not provide data of third-party to NADRA.

    To a question, he said that there was minimal possibility of data theft from the FBR system.

    He said that the FBR could allow third party to make applications through which consumers could file tax returns, adding that around three consultants have approached FBR to develop application through which the tax could be filed in IRIs system of FBR.

    He said that the board had also established help desks to provide assistance to the people who face difficulties in filing their returns.

    Spokesperson FBR, Syed Nadeem Hussain Rizvi said that the FBR had also added a new page in income tax filer application for traders to file their income tax return.

  • Stock market gains 37 points in range bound activity

    Stock market gains 37 points in range bound activity

    KARACHI: The stock market gained 37 points on Wednesday in a range bound trading activity during the day.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 42,022 points as against 41,985 points showing an increase of 37 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in range between -374 points and +211 points, closing the session +37 points.

    Selling pressure ensued the global sell off which was observed overnight in US markets and carried the same sentiment in regional markets.

    KSE100 followed suit and saw selling pressure in E&P, OMCs and Cement sectors throughout the session with varying intensity. Selling pressure built again in PSO, HASCOL and UBL by the close of session which otherwise saw buying activity.

    OGDC & PPL also observed selling activity on the back of significant decline in crude oil prices.

    Technology sector posted high volumes of 172.9 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (83.2 million) and Refinery (64.8 million). Among scrips, HASCOL topped the volumes with 75.6 million shares, followed by PTC (63 million) and PIBTL (57.2 million).

    Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+42 points), Technology (+32 points), Insurance (+23 points), Food (+22 points), E&P (-55 points), O&GMCs (-23 points),  and Power (-20 points).

    Volumes declined from 884.4 million shares to 707.0 million shares (-20 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 24 percent to reach US$ 128.0 million as against US$ 167.7 million.

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, PTC, PIBTL, WTL and TRG, which formed 38 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HBL (+31 points), TRG (+20 points), NATF (+18 points), LUCK (+14 points) and JLICL (+12 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (-31 points), HUBC (-14 points), UBL (-14 points), PPL (-14 points) and MARI (-11 points).

  • Roshan Digital Accounts: SBP issues instructions for facilitating overseas Pakistanis

    Roshan Digital Accounts: SBP issues instructions for facilitating overseas Pakistanis

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday issued instructions to designated banks for compliance in facilitating overseas Pakistanis in opening their bank accounts.

    The SBP said that it had launched the ‘Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) for Non-Resident Pakistanis’ (NRPs) to enable them to remotely open bank accounts in Pakistan through online digital portals of your bank without physically visiting branches.

    For this purpose, SBP has already issued a simplified account opening framework and other regulatory instructions.

    Using their RDAs, NRPs can now avail digital banking facilities, including access to online banking, domestic funds transfer, utility bills and tuition fee payment in Pakistan, as well as investments in government bills, stock exchange, and real estate sector with option of full repatriation.

    To make the scheme a success it is imperative that participating banks provide excellent user experience and convenience to prospective and existing customers while maintaining high service standards. In this regard, the following instructions are being issued for strict compliance:

    Development and Continuous Improvements of RDA Portals and Mobile Apps: Banks shall ensure compliance with the following minimum requirements for developing and maintaining their web portals:

    Banks shall continuously endeavor to provide an exceptional and seamless digital experience to their customers via their web portals, mobile apps and other digital channels.

    Bank shall ensure that official Logo of RDA as provided by SBP is clearly displayed on web-portals, mobile apps and other marketing collaterals.

    Banks shall ensure full security of their digital channels including portals/mobile apps and ensure that customer information/documents are fully protected from unauthorized access.

    Bank shall ensure that Data Security and Privacy Assurance Statements, explicitly mentioning that all the information/documents and data provided by customers is secure and will not be divulged,  are displayed appropriately to ensure customer comfort in this regard.

    Banks shall ensure that their web portals clearly provide an overview of the RDA scheme, and also display eligibility criteria and documentary requirements, as specified by SBP in the Framework for Remote/ Digital Onboarding of NRPs.

    Banks shall ensure that video tutorials on how to open RDA account are provided on the web portals for customer assistance.

    To provide 24/7 customer support, banks shall ensure that live chat option or other messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Chat options are working during account opening. Moreover, for customer information/guidance, banks shall ensure that Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are prominently placed on their RDA page and are regularly updated.

    Banks shall ensure that customers are able to save their applications, either themselves or automatically, at any stage of the account opening process.

    Banks shall ensure that a feedback form is available for customers who visit their portals/download mobile apps for account opening. Banks shall also provide other mechanisms for soliciting customer feedback via call centers, email, social media etc.

    Banks shall offer both Islamic and conventional accounts, where applicable/allowed and in various eligible currencies (and not just USD) as per the relevant rules and regulations of SBP.

    Banks shall provide services like online banking, online fund transfers in Pakistan, payments of utility and other bill, mobile and wallet tops ups in Pakistan, investment in government securities such as Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPC), round the clock currency conversion services, and immediate repatriation of funds to their customers.

    Banks shall also arrange for issuing debit, credit and virtual cards to their customers and enabling their online usage.

    Banks may work with other stakeholder and provide options for other lifestyle banking products like investments in Pakistan Stock Exchange, real estate and other products/services commensurate with customer KYC.

    Bank may offer the service to dispatch the ATM/Debit card and cheque book at the registered address of the NRP/POC card holders outside Pakistan. For this purpose, the banks shall explicitly mention the applicable charges, and take consent of the customer on the charges before providing this services. The banks shall institute effective controls to manage the associated risks.

    Account Opening Process: Banks shall ensure compliance with the following minimum requirements for ensuring a seamless account opening and monitoring process:

    Banks shall ensure that accounts are opened and activated after seeking the information as specified in the Framework for Remote/ Digital Onboarding of NRPs issued by BPRD and updated from time to time. If banks require additional information as per their internal policies, they may do so after the accounts are opened and activated.

    An account opening application may be considered as “In-Process”, once the bank receives a customer’s primary contact details such as name, valid email address/phone number and country of residence etc. These details should be solicited at the beginning of the account opening process. Banks shall ensure adequate follow up with these prospective clients to help them complete their application.

    However, the bank may mark the application as “Closed – Customer not interested”, if the customer fails to complete their application and provide relevant documentation within a reasonable time-period, to be determined by the bank but which shall not be less than 30 days, or explicitly informs the bank of their intent to withdraw their application.

    Banks shall depute adequate number of resources such as Relationship Officers to ensure that customers are contacted in a timely manner to avoid backlog of customer applications and unnecessary delays in account opening. Further, during the course of account opening, banks shall put in place an appropriate mechanism to update the customer of their application status, such as In-Process, pending due to missing information/documents, pending due to incorrect information, successful or declined.

  • Rupee eases by nine paisas against dollar

    Rupee eases by nine paisas against dollar

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee depreciated by nine paisas against dollar on Wednesday owing to higher demand for import and corporate payment.

    The rupee ended Rs166.52 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs166.43 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that the market witnessed dollar demand for import and corporate payment. They said that improved activities in trade and industry rose the demand for imported goods.

    They said that the inflows of remittances and export receipts likely to help the rupee to improve levels against dollar in coming days.