The Pakistani Rupee remained stable against the US Dollar on Friday, closing at Rs156.19 compared to the previous day’s rate of Rs156.18 in the interbank foreign exchange market. The currency maintained its position despite increased demand for the dollar due to impending weekly holidays, dealers said.
(more…)Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz
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Govt plans issuance of Eurobond, Sukuk in international capital markets; intends to hire consortia
ISLAMABAD: The government has planned to set up a Medium Term Note (MTN) Program for issuance of US Dollar denominated Eurobonds and Sukuk in the international capital markets.
The program shall initially cover a period of one year, said ministry of finance on Friday.
For the purpose, finance division plans to engaged two consortia, each consisting of five financial institutions, for issuance of Eurobonds and Sukuk under the program. “The selected consortia are expected to guide, advise, manage, coordinate and execute the whole range of activities associated with the program,” the ministry said.
It further said that Consortium – 1 shall consist of five conventional financial institutions and shall assist in issuance of Eurobonds. Consortium-2 shall consist of five financial institutions, including at least two Islamic financial institutions, and shall assist in issuance of international Sukuk.
Explaining the selection criteria for Consortium-1, the ministry said that the financial institution ranked first shall be selected. The financial institutional ranked second shall be given the option to match the lowest evaluated financial proposal. “If it chooses so, it shall be selected as part of the consortium, otherwise it shall be rejected.”
The process shall continue in this manner till five consortium members are selected. In case of a tie, the financial institution having secured higher technical score shall be given the option to become part of the consortium.
Regarding selection of members of Consortium-2, the ministry said that the same process as in case of Consortium – 1 shall be followed except that at least two Islamic financial institutions shall be selected as members of Consortium-2.
The ministry invited proposals for the program to be submitted by October 14, 2019.
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ABAD, CDC sign MoU for digitalization of land record
KARACHI: Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) and Central Depository Company Pvt Limited (CDC) on Thursday signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the digitalization of land records through Land Repository System, which will be the first ever system of Pakistan and it will cater the need of Electronic Registration of Land and Land Titles.
The signing ceremony was held at ABAD House here on Thursday.
Vice Chairman ABAD Abdul Kareem Adhia and Badiuddin Akber CEO of CDC signed the MoU witnessed by Chairman ABAD Muhammad Hassan Bakshi, Chairman CDC Moin M Fudda, Senior Vice Chairman ABAD Anwar Dawood, Chairman Southern Region Ibrahim Habib, senior officials of CDC and members of ABAD were present on this occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, Moin M Fudda congratulated ABAD for initiating such a gigantic work. He said that electronic registration of land documents will help abolish possibilities of fraud and corruption.
He said that this system will help not only to purchaser of property but will help grow national economy as it will abolish corruption being witnessed in offices of Registrars at present. He said that almost 60 percent of all cases in various courts are of fraud in lands.
He pointed out that every third person in Sindh is victim of land fraud and the new Electronic Registration System- Land Repository System will help remove any fraud.
Chairman ABAD Muhammad Hassan Bakshi said that ABAD is working for the legal and bona fide construction activities in Pakistan and some people are accusing that builders are cheating people but 98 percent of ABAD members are doing their legitimate business. He lamented that ABAD members are wrongly accused of illegal construction activities as more than 5000 buildings are being constructed illegally and without any approval of competent authority while all members of ABAD are getting approvals before starting construction of their buildings.
He said that Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister Murtaza Wahab has promised to land full support for the legislation of this new system.
Addressing the ceremony CEO CDC highlighted main points of Land Repository System. Zaigham Rizvi, Chairman Prime Minister’s Task Force for Housing also spoke on this occasion. Vice Chairman ABAD Abdul Kareem Adhia thanked all guests.
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Total SECP registered companies increases to 104,030 by August
ISLAMABAD: The total registered companies with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has reached to 104,030 by end of August 2019, a statement said on Thursday.
The SECP registered 1,187 new companies in August 2019, out of which 94 percent companies were registered online through eService and 52 percent within same day.
The increasing trend in registration of new companies is due to simplified and hassle free procedures of company incorporation, the SECP said.
The SECP has recently undertaken series of reforms for providing ease of business registration. Following reforms, a company can be registered in SECP within four hours through eService.
The SECP has recently combined the process for name reservation and incorporation to introduce a single application form for company incorporation. Moreover, the company incorporation and other regulatory fee has been reduced significantly and facility provided for payment of fee through mobile and internet banking.
“To facilitate and guide people, the SECP has also established facilitation desks at company registration offices of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore,” the statement said.
The most significant development is the integration of SECP’s eServices with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and business registration portals of Punjab and Sindh. Resultantly, SECP eServices is offering a one window facility for company incorporation, NTN registration and registration with EOBI, provincial social security institution, excise and taxation department and labor department of Punjab and Sindh.
The SECP said that the new companies registered in August 2019, include 71 percent private limited companies, 26 percent single member companies and three percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
Trading sector took the lead with 192 companies followed by, services with 148, construction with 132 and IT with 120.
The SECP said that 595 companies were registered in tourism, real estate development, education, food and beverages, engineering, corporate agricultural farming, marketing and development, chemical, mining and quarrying, textile, pharmaceutical, transport, fuel and energy, and healthcare, auto and allied, and communication, logging, power generation etc.
The SECP said that foreign investment has been reported in 38 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from China, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Korea South, Mauritius, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 434 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 316 and 189 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively.
The CRO in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit Baltistan, Faisalabad, Quetta and Sukkur registered 81, 56, 47, 45, 13 and six companies respectively.
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Total number of SECP registered companies increases to 102,864
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FBR launches mobile app for filing salary returns
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will launch a mobile application today (September 13, 2019) for filing annual income tax returns by salaried persons.
“FBR will tomorrow launch a ‘Mobile App’ for filing return of income for salaried persons,” said Syed Shabbar Zaidi, Chairman, FBR in a tweet on Thursday.
“Now return of income for such persons, including payment of tax, can be made using smart phones,” he said.
“This is a step towards complete digitalisation of processes in taxation system,” he added.
The last date for filing income tax returns for tax year 2019 by salaried persons is September 30, 2019.
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FBR transfers 12 Commissioners Inland Revenue
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday transferred 12 Commissioners of Inland Revenue with immediate effect and until further orders.
The FBR notified the transfers and posting of following Commissioners in BS-19-20:
01. Muhammad Irfan Raza (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-VI) Corporate Regional Tax Office, Lahore from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-I) Large Taxpayers Unit, Lahore.
02. Sahibzada Abdul Mateen (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (IP/TFD/HRM) Large Taxpayers Unit, Karachi from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-I) Regional Tax Office, Quetta.
03. Muhammad Khalid Malik (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Lyallpur Zone) Regional Tax Office, Faisalabad from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-II) Regional Tax Office, Sargodha.
04. Ms. Sumbal Agha (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-I) Large Taxpayers Unit, Lahore from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-VI) Corporate Regional Tax Office, Lahore.
05. Ms. Irum Sarwar (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been trasferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (HRM) Large Taxpayers Unit, Lahore from the post of Commissioner, (Chenab Zone) Regional Tax Office, Faisalabad.
06. Hazoor Bux Laghari (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-I) Regional Tax Office, Quetta from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-II) Regional Tax Office, Quetta.
07. Muhammad Abid (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-I) Regional Tax Office, Gujranwala from the post of Commissioner, (Okara Zone) Regional Tax Office, Sahiwal.
08. Faisal Rauf Memon (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been trasnferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-V) Large Taxpayers Unit, Karachi from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-I) Large Taxpayers Unit-II, Karachi.
09. Ms. Yasmeen Fatima (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-VII) Corporate Regional Tax Office, Lahore from the post of Commissioner, (BTB) Regional Tax Office II, Lahore.
10. Abdul Hafeez Nizamani (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been trasferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-II) Regional Tax Office, Sukkur from the post of Commissioner, Inland revenue (Appeals), Sukkur.
11. Zulfiqar Ali Syed (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Zone-I) Large Taxpayers Unit-II, Karachi from the post of Commissioner, (Zone-II) Regional Tax Office, Hyderabad.
12. Naeem Babar (Inland Revenue Service/BS-19) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (OPS) (Chenab Zone) Regional Tax Office, Faisalabad from the post of Commissioner, (OPS) (Lyallpur Zone) Regional Tax Office, Faisalabad.
The FBR said that the officers who are drawing performance allowance prior to issuance of this notification shall continue to draw this allowance on the new place of posting.
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Pakistan’s forex reserves increase by $132 million
KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country have increased by $132 million to $15.751 billion by week ended September 06, 2019, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The reserves held by SBP increased by $182 million to $8.462 billion by week ended September 06, 2019 as compared with $8.28 billion a week ago. The SBP attributed the increase to official inflows during the week.
The reserves held by commercial banks, however, declined by $50 million to $7.289 billion as compared with $7.339 billion a week ago.
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Stock market gains 592 points on rate cut hope
KARACHI: The stock market gained 592 points on Thursday due to broad buying activity on hopes of rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy announcement.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 31,546 points as against 30,955 points showing an increase of 592 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market performed well today, with across the board buying activity.
E&P, Banks and Cement contributed positively to the points table that showed a jump of 892 points during the session.
Major reason for general positivity seems to be expectation of rate cut, which had an indication from recent auction of treasury bills that saw yield curve sliding further.
Market on close, however, saw attrition of ~350 points closing the index to +553 points (unadjusted). E&P stocks saw reversal in prices by end of session. Cement sector led the volumes with 31 million shares, followed by Technology (26.4 million) and Power (22.9 million). WTL led the volumes with 18.3 million shares, followed by KEL (11.7 million) and MLCF (11.1 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+179 points), Fertilizer (+111 points), Cement (+75 points), Power (+51 points) and E&P (+51 points).
Volumes increased from 99.6 million shares to 185.8 million shares (+86 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 64 percent to reach US$ 51.9 million as against US$ 31.6 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, KEL, MLCF, HUBC and FCCL, which formed 33 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include BAHL (+49 points), LUCK (+48 points), FFC (+42 points), ENGRO (+41 points) and PPL (+39 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MUREB (-10 points), KTML (-4 points), HASCOL (-2 points), AGIL (-2 points), and SML (-1 point).
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Rupee gains 13 paisas against dollar
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained 13 paisas against dollar on Thursday owing to improved inflows of export receipts and workers remittances, dealers said.
The rupee ended Rs156.18 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs156.31 in interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that the inflows had helped the rupee to gain value against the greenback. They said that the rupee was remained stabled during the day due to inflows of export reciepts and workers remittances .
The foreign currency market initiated in the range of Rs156.15 and Rs156.25. The market recorded day high of Rs156.28 and low of Rs156.18 and closed at Rs156.18.
The exchange rate in open market also witnessed appreciation in local currency value. The buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs156.00/Rs156.50 from previous day’s closing of Rs156.20/Rs156.70 in cash ready market.
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Hub Power declares Rs8.036 billion annual profit, 6.17pc lower than previous year
KARACHI: Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO) has declared net annual profit of Rs8.036 billion for the period ended June 30, 2019, which is 6.17 percent lower than the profit of Rs8.565 billion in the previous year.
According to financial statement for year 2019 submitted to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, the company also declared earnings per share at Rs6.70 for the year, which is also lower when compared with EPS Rs7.15 in the last year.
The total turnover of the company sharply fell to Rs36.028 billion in 2019 as compared with the turnover of Rs76.675 billion. The operating costs have been declined to Rs24.29 billion as compared with Rs66.872 billion.
The company declared gross profit of Rs11.733 billion in the year 2019, which is 19.68 percent higher than the gross profit of Rs9.803 billion a year ago.
The company declared profit from operations to the tune of Rs13.236 billion for the year under review as compared with Rs11.022 billion in the last year.
Finance costs of the company increased to Rs4.96 billion as compared with Rs2.247 billion. This brings the profit before taxation of the company at Rs8.275 billion as compared with Rs8.77 billion of the last year.
The company paid taxes to the tune of Rs238.523 million in 2019 as compared with Rs209.2 million in the previous year.