The Pakistan stock market witnessed a significant rally on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index climbing 341 points. The index closed at 37,584 points, up from 37,243 points, marking a robust session of across-the-board buying activities.
(more…)Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz
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KTBA submits observations on suspicious transaction reporting by jewelers, real estate agents
KARACHI: Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) on Friday submitted its observations on reporting of suspicious transactions by jewelers and real estate agents to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
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SBP issues instructions to banks on FX/SWAP trade confirmation
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday issued instructions to banks regarding foreign exchange (FX)/SWAP trade confirmation.
The SBP said that it had earlier issued instructions through a circular on October 09, 2012 under which the banks provide FX/SWAP trade confirmations duly signed by their authorized signatories, as per standardized hard copy format (hard copy) on the transaction date.
They are also required to provide SWIFT MT-300 confirmation message (SWIFT message) in addition to said hard copies.
It has, however, been observed that some of the banks occasionally fail to send said hard copies/ SWIFT messages on the transaction date.
Such lapses pose serious difficulties in timely verification of trade terms and other trade related details thereby unnecessarily exposing the banks to critical settlement risk.
The banks are also required to keep this department updated on any changes in their list of authorized signatories along with contact details, however, intermittent non-compliance to these instructions has also been noted.
In order to ensure smooth settlement process, the banks are advised to:
Ensure that all SWIFT messages, of a given transaction date, are invariably transmitted to this department with zero tolerance for any leftover SWIFT message.
This means that transmission date of a SWIFT message should not be later than the trade commitment date (transaction date) of related FX/SWAP trade.
Further, in order to bring efficiency in the process, transmission of hard copy may be discontinued from now onwards.
However, submission of hard copy would be mandatory in situations where a bank is unable to transmit SWIFT message due to any reason of whatsoever in nature.
Submit an updated list of authorized signatories with specimen signatures and contact details, on quarterly basis (format attached).Such updated list for quarter ending Jul-Sep19 may be submitted by November 28, 2019. The future reports may be submitted within 10 working days from end of a calendar quarter.
In case of any future changes of authorized person(s) during a quarter, this department will be immediately notified of such changes but not later than 3 working days.
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SLR limits not to apply on floating rate PIBs: SBP
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has notified regulations to Statutory Liquidity Requirement (SLR) eligibility limit on floating rate Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs).
In a circular issued on Friday, the SBP said it is decided that SLR eligibility limit of 15 percent for banks and 5 percent for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) on Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) shall not be applicable on floating rate PIBs.
The SBP said that it had issued circulars on March 08, 2018 and May 22, 2004 for banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) respectively.
All other instructions on the subject will remain same. The above instructions will be effective immediately, the SBP said.
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World Bank’s IFC signs financing agreement to build six power projects in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a financing agreement of $450 million to build six wind power projects in Pakistan.
A statement on Friday said that IFC led the financing of a first-of-its-kind program to build six wind power projects in Pakistan, named the Super Six, with a total investment of US$450 million, to help deliver cleaner, cheaper power to meet the country’s critical demand for energy and reduce reliance on expensive imported fossil fuels.
Financing agreements for the landmark wind power program were signed by IFC’s Senior Manager, Nadeem Siddiqui and private sector power developers at a special ceremony witnessed by Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan and Federal Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub.
The Super Six plants, with a combined capacity of 310 megawatts, will deliver among the lowest cost power generation in the country to date. They will be built in the Jhimpir wind corridor in Sindh province and will generate more than 1,000 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power 450,000 homes. The program is also expected to lead to emission reductions of about 650,000 tons of CO2 per year.
All Super Six projects are being developed by domestic companies: ACT Group, Artistic Milliners (Private) Limited, Din Group, Gul Ahmed Group and Younus Brothers Group.
“The government is aiming to increase the non-hydro renewable energy share in the overall generation mix from 4 percent to 20 percent by 2025 and it is welcoming to see Pakistan’s local private sector behind these Super Six wind projects, supporting the government’s long-term objective to see more wind and solar in the country’s energy mix,” Omar Ayub said.
“This additional clean power will help meet growing demand, reduce the average cost of electricity, and improve both reliability and security of supply,” IFC’s Vice President for Asia and Pacific, Nena Stoiljkovic said.
“We hope this will send a strong signal to the private sector that the renewable energy market in Pakistan is viable and sustainable, as well as beneficial to the Pakistani people.”
As part of the program, IFC is providing a financing package of US$320 million, comprising US$86 million from its own account and US$234 million mobilized from other lenders, which include Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG, part of KfW Group of Germany), and local banks Bank Alfalah, Bank Al Habib and Meezan Bank.
The program is in line with the joint energy strategy of the World Bank Group, which includes IFC, the World Bank and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), to help address Pakistan’s structural issues in the energy sector, through policy reforms and increases in private investments to expand clean energy generation and bring down the cost of power.
The cost of power from the Super Six projects is expected to be more than 40 percent lower than the current average cost of generation, a move that is expected to spur more investments in renewable energy in the country. IFC, one of the largest investors in Pakistan’s power sector, financed the first wind power project in the country in 2011 and helped created the framework for financing hydro and wind Independent Power Producers.
With this program, IFC will have made investments in 11 wind power projects in Pakistan. The World Bank is supporting the government on policy reforms to enhance the energy sector’s sustainability and the implementation of the upcoming new renewable energy policy framework.
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Steering committee constituted for FBR restructuring
ISLAMABAD: A 7-member steering committee has been constituted on Friday for restructuring of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
An office order issued by the FBR said that the steering committee shall comprise following members:
01. Syed Muhammad Shabbar Zaidi, Chairman, FBR will be chairperson of the committee
02. Ms. Nausheen Javed Amjad (Inland Revenue Service (IRS)/BS22), Member (Administration, FBR.
03. Muhammad Javed Ghani (Pakistan Customs Service (PCS)/BS-22), Member (Customs – Policy), FBR.
04. Ms. Seema Shakil (IRS/BS-21), Member (IR-Operations), FBR.
05. Dr. Jawwad Uwais Agha, (PSC/BS-21) Member (Customs-Operations), FBR
06. Dr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar (IRS/BS21) Member (IR-Policy), FBR.
07. Talha Aziz Khan (IRS/BS-19) Chief (OPS), Chairman Office (Staff Officer-II) will be secretary of the steering committee.
The FBR also constituted four sub-committees. The chairpersons of these sub-committees are as follow:
01. Sub-Committee – Re-Organization to be headed by Dr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar
02. Sub-Committee – Human Resource will be headed by Ms. Nausheen Javed Amjad
03. Sub-Committee – Field Formations will be headed by Muhammad Javed Ghani
04. Sub-Committee – Automation will be headed by Dr. Fareed Iqbal Qureshi (PCS/BS-21), Chief Collector Customs Appraisement (Central).
The FBR said that the officers shall assist the steering committee in finalizing the proposals for restructuring of FBR (Headquarters and field formations of IRS and PCS.)
The consultative committees formed on November 08, 2019 have been asked to ensure that their recommendations should reach by November 20, 2019.
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Rupee gains three paisas on foreign inflows
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained three paisas against dollar on Friday owing to inflows of export receipts and foreign remittances, dealers said.
The rupee closed at Rs155.39 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs155.42 in interbank foreign exchange market.
The dealers said that foreign inflows and export receipts helped the local unit to appreciate early in the day. However, demand for the greenback for import payments due to next two weekly holidays restricted the rupee appreciation to three paisas.
The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs155.35 and Rs155.39. The market recorded day high of Rs155.47 and low of Rs155.39 and closed at Rs155.39.
The exchange rate in open market witnessed slight change in rupee value. The buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs155.20/Rs155.50 from previous day’s closing of Rs155.20/Rs155.40 in cash ready market.
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Pension identity card for retired government employees launched
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has started issuance of pension identity card to the pensioners/ex-employees of the federal government.
The office of the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues issued a circular to notify Pensioner Identity Card Form for issuance of pensioner card to the retired/family of deceased employees of the federal government.
The AGPR asked all the government department to forward the form to their ex-employees/family of the deceased employees for the with the advise to fill up the form and submit to the concerned account office for issuance of pension identity card.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to comply with the instructions circulated the information on November 14, 2019 (Thursday) to FBR headquarters and all field formations to inform the ex-employees / family of ex-employees with the advise to fill the form properly and submit the same to the concerned account office for issuance of pension identity card.
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FBR helps salaried persons in filing returns through video tutorials
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued video tutorials for filing income tax returns by salaried persons for tax year 2019.
The video tutorials are series of FBR’s campaign to facilitate taxpayers to discharge their liabilities.
The FBR’s tutorials enable a salaried person to file his/her annual income tax returns without taking assistance of others or paying someone for filing his/her return.
Persons having more than 50 percent salary income can take help from the tutorials for filing their returns.
The FBR facilitated the salaried taxpayers to make entries of their tax withheld under various provisions of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 and claim adjustment against total payable liabilities or claim refund.
The tutorials are in Urdu language in order to facilitate the large segment of salaried persons having able threshold income in filing their returns.
The salary class is the largest tax filing community of the FBR. However, there is still large number of employees in government or corporate sector is not filing their returns.
The last date for filing income tax returns for tax year 2019 is November 30, 2019.
In order to avoid fine and penalty salary persons can avail opportunity to file their returns in ease steps as shown in following videos:
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FBR launches tutorial for claiming income tax refund
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday launched video tutorial for claiming income tax refund, which is paid as excess amount or paid as withholding tax.
The FBR issued the tutorial in order to facilitate compliant taxpayers who paid additional amount of tax as withholding while making various types of transactions.
There are number of withholding tax provisions where the deducted amount is adjustable. However, in case amount of tax in annual return form is already paid than the adjustable amount can be claimed as refund.
However, in order to claim the refund a taxpayer needs to provide evidence of challans of withholding tax deduction such as bank certificates, withholding statements of tax deducted by phone companies, car purchase or immovable properties.
The FBR in the tutorial explained step by step procedure for claiming refunds of past years as well.