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  • Past revenue-centric policies hurt exports: Prime Minister

    Past revenue-centric policies hurt exports: Prime Minister

    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the revenue-centric economic policies of past governments have badly damaged the competitiveness of Pakistan’s exports.

    The past the revenue-centric economic policies with overemphasis on collection of revenues made the industry uncompetitive, the prime minister said while chairing 80th Meeting of the Board of Administrators of Export Development Fund (EDF) at Prime Minister’s Office, according to a statement on Thursday.

    The prime minister said that economic future of the country was linked with enhancement of exports which so far have remained far below the actual potential.

    The present government has made a paradigm shift in prioritizing the competitiveness of industry vis-à-vis revenue collection.

    The prime minister while expressing serious concern over the mismatch in collection and releases of the EDF during past years, directed that timely release of EDF, which was indeed the exporters’ money, be ensured during the current year while a comprehensive system be devised for the future to ensure unhindered releases and optimum utilization of EDF for its mandated purpose.

    The Board of Administrators of EDF, reconstituted the Finance Committee of the EDF Board which will be chaired by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce.

    The meeting approved budget and the schedule of activities to be held during TEXPO Exhibition 2019 at Lahore Expo Centre on 11th -14th April 2019.

    It was also decided during the meeting that the EDF Board would also include Secretary Textile Division, as its member, to ensure representation of the textile sector, being the major contributor towards exports of the country.

    Talking to the leading businessmen, the Prime Minister stated that the Government would continue taking the business community on-board in policy formulation process and their feedback would help the government further improve policy framework and to extend maximum facilitation to the exporters and the businessmen of the country.

  • Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increase to $17.397 billion

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increase to $17.397 billion

    KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $1.924 billion to $17.397 billion by week ended March 29, 2019 as against $15.473 billion a week ago, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The reserves held by State Bank increased by $1.931 billion to $10.492 billion by week ended under review as compared with $8.561 billion by week ended March 22, 2019.

    The SBP said that during the week ending March 29, 2019, the central bank received inflow of RMB 15 billion equivalent to US$2.2 billion as proceeds of the loan obtained by the government of Pakistan from China. After taking into account outflows relating to external debt and other official payments, SBP reserves increased by US$1,931 million during the week.

    The reserves held by commercial banks, however, declined by $9 million to $6.904 billion from previous week’s level of $6.913 billion.

  • Amnesty scheme will not for public office holder: Asad Umar

    Amnesty scheme will not for public office holder: Asad Umar

    ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Wednesday said that if the government introduces any tax amnesty scheme then it will not applicable for public office holders.

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  • ECC approves import of 100,000 tons of urea

    ECC approves import of 100,000 tons of urea

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved immediate import of 100,000 tons of urea to facilitate farmers.

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  • High Speed Diesel July- March sales hit decade low

    High Speed Diesel July- March sales hit decade low

    KARACHI: The sales of High Speed Diesel (HSD) have declined to decade low due to slowdown in economy, analysts said on Tuesday.

    In July – March 2018/2019, HSD sales decline (-20 percent YoY in 9MFY19) touched over decade low due to slowdown in economy. While Motor Spirit (MS or Petrol) growth remained limited to 1 percent YoY, almost 9-Year low on account of decline in Cars/Bikes sales by 4.5 percent/5 percent during 8MFY19, said analysts at Topline Securities.

    Pakistan Oil Sales was down 18 percent YoY during Mar 2019, dragged by 50 percent YoY decline in Furnace Oil (FO) and 21 percent YoY drop in HSD sales.

    FO sales decline continues due to its low usage in power generation after commencement of new RLNG and coal based power plants.

    HSD sales remained on lower side on back of slowdown in economy as indicated by 7MFY19 Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) decline of 2.3 percent vs. 7 percent growth in 7MFY18.

    Further, continuous smuggling from Iran could also be attributed to this decline.

    Pakistan State Oil (PSO) regained its market share during Mar 2019 by 5ppts and 3.5ppts MoM in MS and HSD sales respectively to 39 percent and 41 percent respectively. While, Hascol lost 4ppts and 6ppts MoM in both products.

  • Headline inflation increases by 9.4pc in March

    Headline inflation increases by 9.4pc in March

    ISLAMABAD: The headline inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased by 9.4 percent on year-on-year basis in March, 2019 as compared to an increase of 8.2 percent in the previous month and 3.2 percent in March 2018.

    The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday said that on month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.4 percent in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 0.6 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.3 percent in corresponding month i.e. March 2018.

    Core inflation measured by non-food non-energy CPI (Core NFNE) increased by 8.5 percent on (YoY) basis in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 8.8 percent in the previous month and 5.8 percent in March 2018.

    On (MoM) basis, it increased by 0.5 percent in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 0.2 percent in previous month, and an increase of 0.7 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. March 2018.

    Core inflation, measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean CPI (Core Trimmed) increased by 7.9 percent on (YoY) basis in March 2019 as compared to 7.7 percent in the previous month and by 4.1 percent in March 2018. On (MoM) basis, it increased by 0.4 percent in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 0.2 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.2 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. March 2018.

    Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) inflation on YoY basis increased by 8.8 percent in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 6.5 percent a month earlier and a decrease of 1.8 percent in March 2018.

    On MoM basis, it increased by 1.6 percent as compared to an increase of 1.5 percent in the previous month and a decrease of 0.6 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. March 2018.

    Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation on YoY basis increased by 12.6 percent in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 11.0 percent a month earlier and an increase of 3.6 percent in March 2018.

    WPI inflation on MoM basis increased by 1.7 percent in March 2019 as compared to an increase of 0.9 percent a month earlier and an increase of 0.2 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. March 2018.

  • Inflation for essential items rises by 11.9 percent

    Inflation for essential items rises by 11.9 percent

    ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential items have increased by 11.90 percent by week ended March 28, 2018 as compared with the same week last year.

    The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) – the barometer to gauge price movement of 53 essential items – showed that inflation had increased for all the income group from Rs8,000 / month to Rs35,000 per month and above.

    The income group falling between Rs18,001 to Rs35,000 faced inflationary pressure by 12.85 percent. Meanwhile the inflation for the income group Rs35,000 and above was recorded at 16.14 percent.

    However, the SPI based inflation fell 0.36 percent when compared with previous week.

    During the week ended March 28, 2019 the average prices of 20 items registered increase as compared with week ended March 21, 2019, which included: potatoes (6.5 percent); Onions (2.52 percent); Bananas (1.82 percent); Pulse Moong (washed) (1.47 percent) etc.

    However, average prices of nine items registered decline during the week under review, which included: tomatoes (32.57 percent); Eggs (6.78 percent); LPG cylinder (2.7 percent) etc.

    While average prices of 24 items were remained unchanged during the week.

  • SECP holds awareness session for NPOs on AML/CFT

    SECP holds awareness session for NPOs on AML/CFT

    ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has conducted an awareness session on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) in collaboration with of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), a statement said on Friday.

    The SECP said that the awareness session was conducted AML/CFT obligations of non-profit organizations (NPOs) licensed under section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, for Lahore-based registered intermediaries.

    Around 100 participants from the NPO sector, registered intermediaries and ICAP members were in attendance.

    An SECP official made a detailed presentation on the AML/CFT regulatory requirements as well as the mechanism for implementation of United Nations Sanctions Regime under resolutions 1267 and 1373 for designation of terrorist organizations and individuals.

    The session focused on the relevant recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force as well as findings of the National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment, including directions, channels and sources of terror finance, risk assessment of NPOs, and various policy, legislative and administrative measures for terror financing risk mitigation.

    It also helped participants in improving the understanding of suspicious transaction reporting requirements under the AML/CFT framework.

    The session also discussed the regulatory measures contained in the regulations for NPOs and intermediaries to prevent money laundering and terror financing abuses, supplemented by the best practices and recommendations contained in the AML/CFT guidelines for NPOs issued by it.

    The official emphasized the fact that regulatory action against non-compliant NPOs is a regular feature of the SECP’s enforcement strategy, which will continue in the future.

  • Asad Umar chairs NFC meeting

    Asad Umar chairs NFC meeting

    ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Friday chaired the 5th meeting of the 9th National Finance Commission (NFC) that was held in at Lahore.

    The six sub-groups, formulated during the first meeting in February, gave presentation on various aspects of resources distribution as per the terms of reference assigned to the groups.

    The main focus of all sub-groups’ deliberations was transparency, harmonization and sharing of data.

    The members of the Commission appreciated the work done by the six sub-groups in their first meetings.

    It was agreed that the sub-groups would continue their deliberations and present their reports in the subsequent meetings.

    The Chairman suggested that deliberations should also include incentives for poverty alleviation and social sector spending.

    The representative of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa proposed a framework for NFC deliberations aiming at equalizing fiscal resources across federating units, equal access to public services for all citizens of Pakistan and expenditure efficiency at all levels of the federation.

    All members agreed on the framework and lauded the efforts of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in this regard.

    The Chairman emphasized the importance of a well deliberated and consensus based National Finance Commission Award and said that all federating units shared a huge responsibility in that regard.

    The meeting agreed to make efforts to finalize the NFC Award by December 31, 2019. It was also agreed to hold the next meeting, before end of April, 2019, which would focus on FATA and the taxation aspects of ease of doing business.

    The Chairman reiterated that provincial governments will be engaged in the fiscal related discussion with the IMF.

    He also suggested that each federating unit should nominate a focal person for data sharing to facilitate the working sub-groups.

    He also stressed for strengthening NFC Secretariat and said that necessary measures would be taken in that regard.

    Technical members from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa volunteered to submit a proposal in this regard.

  • Foreign exchange reserves increase to $17.58bn

    Foreign exchange reserves increase to $17.58bn

    KARACHI: The total liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country have increased to $17.58 billion by March 25, 2019, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The central bank received RMB 15 billion equivalent to US$2.2 billion on March 25 as proceeds of the loan obtained by the government of Pakistan from China.

    Accordingly, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP stood at US$10.67 billion and total foreign exchange reserves of the country stood at US$17.58 billion.