ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan will emerge from a food deficit to a food surplus country.
The prime minister on Sunday said that the prices of oil, gas and edible oil were not in the government’s control. “However the owing to the record crops this year, Pakistan would emerge from a food deficit to a food surplus country.”
He said that Pakistan had comparatively managed “much better” than other countries amidst unprecedented price hike of commodities caused by the COVID lockdown.
In a Tweet, the prime minister said that an unprecedented rise in commodity prices internationally had adversely affected most countries in the world as a result of the COVID lockdowns.
However, he said, “Pakistan MashaAllah has fared relatively much better.”
Quoting the data of Food and Agriculture Organization, he said from September to October this year, food prices increased by 1.9 per cent, World Cereal Index by 3.2 per cent, edible oil prices by 9.6 per cent, and dairy products by 2.6 per cent.
However, he said despite the worldwide inflation trend, Pakistan’s exports recorded an increase of 17 per cent in October and are likely to touch $30 billion mark this year. Textile exports are expected to reach $22 billion this year.
He said consequent to the government’s timely measures, the non-oil imports of the country reduced by 12.5 per cent last month making a difference of $750 million.
He said due to increasing income, tax collection also surged with 32 per cent increase in four months making the government to receive additional Rs 151 billion compared to last year.
He said according to the latest data, country’s cotton crop increased by 81 per cent during the last four months. In August, the industry recorded a growth of over 12 per cent and companies’ profits by 21 per cent.
“All this shows that the country’s economy is heading fast and employment would be required in the coming days,” the spokesperson commented.
Addressing a question about any relief for the middle class in PM’s recently announced Rs 120 billion relief package, he said the government had already announced a concession of Rs5-7 on every electricity unit to be consumed more than the previous year’s consumption during November to February.
Moreover, he said the sugar prices would fall in the near future owing to record sugarcane crop.
“All these things will appear on the ground in coming days,” he remarked.
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has increased the minimum support price for wheat to Rs1,950 per 40 kilograms from Rs1,800/40kg.
A statement issued on Saturday said that to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, the government has decided to increase the minimum support price for wheat to Rs 1,950/40 kg compared to Rs. 1,800/40 kg last year.
The government believes that increase in support price will incentivise farmers to grow sufficient wheat to meet the national production target of 28.90 million metric tons.
It is also hoped that availability of irrigation water and weather conditions will be conducive during rabi season to achieve this target.
Due to much higher international prices of DAP fertilizer and shipping cost, the domestic price (Rs. 7,300/bag) has also increased significantly. But thankfully, the price of urea (Rs. 1,850/bag) is stable and significantly lower than the international price (Rs. 5,400/bag) because government provide Rs. 126 billion annual subsidy for natural gas.
The government is working closely with the fertilizer companies to ensure adequate availability of both key fertilizers during this rabi season.
Moreover, the government has provided over Rs. 16 billion for fertilizer, seed, pesticide, agricultural loan markup subsidies. These timely initiatives have helped generate record production of many commodities.
“Our hardworking farmers have produced record crops this year. Pakistan has achieved the highest ever production of wheat (27.5 million mt), rice (8.4 million mt), maize (8.5 million mt), mung beans (0.275 million mt), onion (2.3 million mt), and potato (5.7 million mt). And sugarcane achieved the second-highest production (81 million mt).”
In 2021-22 … Sugarcane production is estimated at 87.67 million tons; 8 per cent higher than that of last year. Rice production is estimated at 8.84 million tons which is 5 per cent higher than that of last year. Maize production is estimated at 9.0 million tons which is 8.5 per cent higher than that of last year. Cotton production as of November 01, 2021 is 6.2 million bales compared to 3.4 million bales (82 per cent higher) at the same date last year.
ATTOCK: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday directed the law minister to pursue the cases against sugar mills on urgent basis for the benefit of general public and for addressing price hike of the commodity.
To address the ongoing sugar crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday directed the law minister to urgently get vacated various stay orders obtained by the sugar mill owners from courts against the government.
Addressing a public gathering after the foundation-laying of a 200-bed mother and child hospital, the prime minister said closure of sugarcane crushing by three sugar mills in Sindh and the subsequent hoarding was the reason behind the current spike in sugar prices.
The sugar price soared as wholesale rate touched Rs150 per kilogram in most parts of the country and retail rate up to Rs160kg.
Also, the other stay order was against Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in line with its action on tax evasion and the ‘off-the-books’ activity of sugar mills.
On overall inflation, he said Pakistan was bearing the impact of global price hike of commodities, mainly due to shortage of supplies in the wake of pandemic.
He said the sharp increase in global petroleum prices from $45 to $85 dollar greatly affected Pakistan as the country relied on imports of several items, including petrol, palm oil, and pulses.
Despite such a situation, he said, Pakistan had the lowest rate of petroleum at Rs 146 per litre among importing countries compared with India at Rs 250 and Bangladesh at Rs 200 per litre.
Imran Khan hoped that as the world businesses open up after decline in pandemic following the coming winters, things would improve.
To reduce the financial impact on poor, he said the government had recently provided food subsidies to 130 million people across the country through Ehsaas programme.
He mentioned that other socio-welfare initiatives such as Kamyab Pakistan would provide interest-free loans to two million households for house building, start-ups, and skills training. Also, the Kamyab Jawan is providing loans to youth across the country, he added.
The prime minister said establishment of five mother and child hospitals in two years would ensure provision of health facilities to women on health issues related to gynecology and obstetrics.
He said it was shameful that due to the apathy of previous governments, a rise in deaths of women during pregnancy was recorded in the wake of non-availability of medical facilities.
He said by March, all households of Punjab would get health insurance of Rs 0.7 to one million for their medical treatment.
He termed the health card a proper system where the private sector would also be encouraged to establish hospitals in rural areas so as to expand the network of healthcare facilities.
Imran Khan said the priority of his government in its tenure was to uplift the people and provinces that lagged behind in development.
On completion of five years, he said, his biggest success would be to bring a positive change in the lives of common man.
He regretted that Pakistan in the past suffered the rule of two political families in 30 years that incurred a huge loss to national exchequer.
The prime minister mentioned that under his government, the country for the first time was witnessing an era of long-term planning besides the boom in industrial growth, exports and historic foreign remittances.
Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar said the mother and child hospital in Attock would provide quality healthcare facilities to two million residents, particularly women, of the Attock district and in the suburbs.
He said the Punjab government would complete the 200-bed hospital equipped with modern facilities in two years at a total cost of Rs 5.3 billion. The federal government has already released Rs 2.66 billion to Punjab for the project.
He said establishment of 21 different universities in the province was also under consideration.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said the mother and child hospitals would help the women get timely medical advice and treatment.
She said after 50 years, the second phase of Nishtar Hospital would be constructed in Multan to meet the medical needs of the growing population.
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday night announced an increase of Rs8.03 to Rs145.82 per liter in the price of petrol effective from November 05, 2021.
The price has been increased from previous high of Rs137.79.
Similarly, the price of high speed diesel has been increased by Rs8.14 to Rs142.62 from Rs134.48.
The rate of kerosene oil has been increased by 6.27 per liter to Rs116.53 from Rs110.26. Likewise, the price of light diesel oil has been increased by Rs5.72 per liter to Rs114.07 from Rs108.35.
A notification issued by the Finance Division stated that on November 01, 2021, the prime minister had not agreed with the proposals worked out by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the finance division directed to maintain the prices as notified on October 16, 2021.
It is pertinent to mention that maintaining the October 16, 2021 petroleum prices had some underlying concerns for cash flow issues due to short recovery of the cost, according to the statement.
It is important to note that in the previous petroleum prices, already a significant relief was provided to the consumers. The government is cognizant of its responsibility to provide maximum relief to the consumers.
“This has dented the petroleum levy budget of Rs152.5 billion during July – September, 2021 as compared to Rs20 billion realized only,” it said.
Foregoing in view, prices of petroleum products have been increased partially as compared to the prices being worked out by the OGRA. If the government had accepted OGRA’s recommendations, the new prices would have been much higher.
Infact, the government has absorbed the bulk of the pressure after making adjustment after making adjustment in the sales tax and petroleum levy. The collection of petroleum levy is far short of its fixed target for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021/2022, it added.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday announced food subsidy package of Rs120 billion providing 30 percent discount at ghee, flour and pulses.
The prime minister, in his televised address to the nation, said 20 million families would benefit from the subsidy package to be funded jointly by the federal and provincial governments.
Under the package, the beneficiaries would avail a 30 per cent discount on the said three food commodities for next six months.
He said the subsidy package was apart from the ongoing different programs under Ehsaas Initiative worth Rs 260 billion affecting 120 million families.
The prime minister particularly thanked the Ehsaas team for compiling the national database of households to enable the government provide direct subsidy to the entitled families.
“Today, we have a data and now I am in the position to announce… country’s biggest ever welfare program,” he remarked.
The prime minister also announced Rs 1400 billion for Kamyab Pakistan Program aimed at providing interest free business loans to the entitled four million families.
The package consists of interest free loans for house construction, Rs 0.5 million each loan for farmers and businesses besides skill training to a member of the entitled family.
He said under Kamyab Jawan Program had so far given Rs 30 billion loan to 22,000 businesses. The program also featured a program to provide six million scholarship and stipends to the students.
Calling it his dream project, the prime minister the Health Insurance Card has been extended to whole of KP province and would be replicated in Punjab, AJK, GB and federal capital by March next year.
The prime minister also asked the Sindh government to launch the program to provide Rs 1 million health insurance cover to every family.
Imran Khan said the government had inherited a Pakistan with the biggest ever fiscal deficit, foreign debt burden, heaviest mark up, reserves touching the lowest mark, and the kitty with no money to pay back debts.
He thanked Saudi Arabia, UAE and China which supported the country in difficult time to save the country from default.
He said it took almost a year to stabilize the economy which unfortunately followed the outbreak of COVID pandemic – the biggest ever crisis the world faced during last century.
The prime minister felt proud for his team in the NCOC comprising top doctors, cabinet members and Pakistan Army which took bold decisions based on the data and made the country steered through the crisis effectively.
“On one side it was the fear of overcrowding of hospitals like India while the other fear was that the lockdown would destroy the economy. Pakistan opted for the middle course which also involved risks,” he said.
The prime minister recalled that he was pressured to impose India-like blanket lockdown but he said Pakistan was among few countries which successfully sailed through the situation which was also acknowledged by the World Bank, World Health Organization, World Economic Forum as well as the international media including The Economist magazine.
Giving an overview of the COVID impact on world economy, the prime minister the United States spent $4,000 billion to support its economy while Pakistan could only scrape $8 billion to avert the burden of unemployment and support the industry, construction and agriculture.
The prime minister said owing to the government’s prudent policies, the country witnessed a 13.8 per cent growth in rice production, pulses 8 per cent, sugarcane 22 per cent, wheat 8 per cent and cotton 81 per cent growth.
Moreover, an additional Rs1100 billion went to the farmers which was manifested by the record sale of motorbikes, tractors and urea.
He said following the incentives announced by the government, the construction projects worth Rs 600 billion were going on in the country and large scale manufacturing achieved record growth. Moreover, the profit of engineering sector increased by 350 per cent, textile sector 160 per cent, automobiles 138 per cent, cement 113 per cent and oil and gas 75 per cent.
Besides, the country’s tax collection also grew by 37 per cent as the government had already surpassed the set target.
“Our (economic) indicators are on right course. IT achieved 47 per cent growth last year and this year it will touch 75 per cent. This is good news for youth,” he remarked.
The prime minister said no doubt the inflation was an issue but instead of merely criticizing like opposition, the media should also teach the people about the worldwide inflation.
Quoting the Bloomberg Commodity Price Index, the prime minister said commodities’ prices grew by 50 per cent in a year against just 9 per cent in Pakistan.
He said Turkey, US, China and Germany had been facing highest inflation. The gas prices surged by 116 per cent in US, 300 per cent in Europe but Pakistan had made no increase except for the one being imported.
He said oil prices in the global market had increased by 100 per cent but Pakistan shifted only 33 per cent of the burden. Even in India oil prices surged to Rs 250, Bangladesh 200 while it was yet at Rs138 in Pakistan.
The government avoided to shift burden from the masses which otherwise could bring in additional Rs 450 billion revenue to the government.
However, the prime minister said the government would have to increase the oil prices which otherwise would lead to swelling the deficit.
Giving a comparison of food commodities in the region, the prime minister said flour rate was Rs83per kg in India while Pakistan had half of the world’s average price. Moreover, Daal Moong was being sold at Rs338 in India against Rs 162 in Pakistan.
Despite that, the government decided to launch the subsidy program in order to avert the burden of inflation from the people, he remarked.
The prime minister particularly appealed the industrialists and businessmen to take special care of labour class and give them a pay raise considering the inflation.
Commenting on the opposition’s criticism against the government, the prime minister committed to bring down prices of food commodities to half if the opposition leaders’ families brought back even half of the money to the country they had looted over last three decades.
According to the details of the subsidy package provided by the PM Office, the federal cabinet had approved the program on Tuesday which would affect 53 per cent of the country’s population.
Under the package, a subsidy of Rs. 1,000 a month would be given to each of the 20 million families with a poverty score of less than 39 and an income of Rs. 31,500 per month.
Ehsaas has developed a digitally enabled mobile point of sale system in collaboration with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to serve beneficiaries through a network of Kiryana stores designated by NBP, all over the country.
This system will digitize parts of the retail sector; there will be use of real time data for decision making. This process will help make beneficiaries and storeowners more digitally adept.
The participating Kiryana store owners will be required to open bank accounts which will help further increase financial inclusion and settlement payments made through RAAST will help increase scale of digital transactions in Pakistan.
For online registration of beneficiaries, Ehsaas will open a registration portal next week.
In interest of transparency, the registered Kiryana stores and beneficiaries will undergo a rigorous verification process to minimize the incidence of fraud.
The federal government and all participating federating units will share fiscal resources in the ratio of 35/65.
The governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and AJK have already agreed to participate in the programme.
In other federating units, federal share of subsidy worth Rs. 350 per month will be given for each eligible household.
KARACHI: The fertilizer industry is playing a critical role in ensuring food security and managing food inflation in Pakistan through adequate and affordable supply of urea at one fifth the international prices.
In a media briefing on Wednesday, Imran Ahmed, CFO of Engro Fertilizers, highlighted that food inflation is one of the biggest challenges being confronted by the Government. However, food inflation is not unique to Pakistan as global food prices have jumped by 34 percent between July 2020 and June 2021, owing to a surge in oil prices, supply chain disruptions and unfavorable weather conditions. Reports suggest that globally the food prices have soared to its highest point in a decade and that has translated locally, where the prices have even been adversely impacted by rupee devaluation on top of global price increases.
He stressed that urea prices do not have any impact on food inflation as only 2.6 per cent of farmers wallet is spent on urea. According to calculations, every Rs 50/bag increase in urea price has an impact of only 1 paisa on the price of a ‘roti’. The impact of a Rs 50/bag increase in urea price on other agri commodities like rice, sugar, maize, potato, tomato and banana is all within 10 paisas per KG.
The local fertilizer industry has shielded farmers from a steep rise in international urea prices as domestically produced urea is currently priced at 2012 level. Urea is available in Pakistan at a significant discount of 81 percent, equivalent to Rs 7500/bag, compared to the international rates. As a result, farmers are getting an annualized benefit in excess of Rs 350 billion and the country is expected to save $3 billion in import substitution during 2021.
He commended the PTI Government for its vision to transform the agriculture sector of Pakistan and supportive policies that enabled the fertilizer sector to reduce urea prices by Rs 400/bag last year. Imran declared that in the absence of a strong local fertilizer industry, Pakistan would have faced at best massive urea shortages like India where landed urea imports are costing as much as $1000 / ton, or even more dire an all-out food emergency as currently being experienced in Sri Lanka.
Imran pointed out that the real issue being faced by the local farmers is the global hike in DAP prices by over 100 per cent that has reflected locally as well as majority of DAP demand is met through imports. To promote balanced mix of fertilizers for higher crop productivity, the Government must urgently provide the farmers relief by implementing the much-promised DAP subsidy. Currently, the subsidy on DAP is being extended only by the Government of Punjab. The Federal Government should convince and mobilize other provincial governments to immediately allocate funding for phosphatic fertilizer subsid for Rabi 2021-22.
It has been widely recommended by the farming community that the Government should increase the subsidy amount to Rs 2,000/bag in view of the current prices of DAP. Further, the subsidy should not be restricted to number of bags, but instead be based on land holding and recommended dose for the farmers.
For the now commenced Rabi season, the Government has very prudently agreed to proceed with disbursement of the subsidy through the usual method of stickers/vouchers. The Government is to be recognized for its adaptability realizing that given the longer than expected duration for the complete roll out of the Kissan Card system, the proven voucher process should be continued for providing timely relief to farmers. The multi-featured Kissan Card is expected to be fully implemented and scaled up by the next season.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced income tax exemption on the import of drones donated by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will give cash rewards to law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for recovery and confiscation of smuggled or non-duty paid goods under Customs laws.
According to the draft amendment, the FBR proposed to include in reward rules the “officers and officials of other law enforcement agencies who assist Customs officers and officials or are actually instrumental in the seizure of smuggled goods and vehicles as confirmed by the respective collectorate of customs, for their meritorious conduct in such cases only after realization of part or whole of the duty and taxes involved in such cases.”
At present, the eligibility for reward stated that cash reward shall be sanctioned under the rules to the following categories of persons in cases involving evasion of duty and other taxes, and confiscation of goods, namely:
(a) officers and officials of Pakistan Customs Service for their contribution in such cases; and
(b) informer providing credible information leading to such confiscation or detection, as the case may be.
As per SRO 1386(I)/2012 dated November 26, 2021, the determination of reward has been explained as the amount of reward, in cases involving evasion of duty and other taxes, and confiscation of goods shall be determined in the following manner:
01. Where the amount of customs duty and other taxes realized is Rs500,000 or less, the amount of reward shall be 20 per cent of the customs duty and other taxes.
02. Where the amount of customs duty and other taxes realized is more than Rs500,000 but not more than Rs1,000,000, the amount of reward shall be Rs100,000 plus 10 per cent of the customs duty and other taxes in excess of Rs500,000.
03. Where the amount of customs duty and other taxes realized is over Rs1,000,000, the amount of reward shall be Rs150,000 plus 5 per cent of the customs duty and other taxes in excess of Rs1,000,000.
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday.
The meeting was part of the ongoing consultation process between the Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff about the timing of change of command in ISI and selection of the new DG ISI.
During this process a list of officers was received from ministry of Defence. Prime Minister interviewed all the nominees.
A final round of consultation was held between the Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff today.
After this detailed consultative process, name of Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum was approved as new DG ISI.
The designate DG ISI shall assume charge on 20th November, 2021.
The president upheld the orders of the Wafaqi Mohtasib to pay the death insurance claims to the widows of policyholders in two separate cases and rejected the representations of SLICP in this regard.
According to the details, Mst. Nagina Fatima’s late husband had purchased non-medical life insurance policy for Rs 1 million and paid annual premium amounting to Rs 54,890 on December 31, 2018.
After his death in February 2019, the widow, being the nominee of the deceased policyholder, approached the SLICP for the payment of death insurance claim.
The SLICP repudiated her insurance claim without issuing her any notice, thereafter, the widow approached the office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib for the redressal of her grievance.
Similarly, the husband of Mst. Rehana Kosar had purchased a policy for Rs 410,000 and after paying annual premium in July 2019 he died. Mst. Kosar’s claim was also rejected without issuing any notice to her after which she approached the Wafaqi Mohtasib to seek justice.
Subsequently, Wafaqi Mohtasib, in both the cases, passed the orders directing SLICP to redress the grievances of the complainants by paying them death insurance claims, taking disciplinary actions against the delinquent officers/officials under the relevant laws and reporting compliance or intimate the reasons for not doing so within 30 days in terms of the Article 11(2) of P.O. 1 of 1983. SLICP, thereafter, filed appeals to the President assailing the orders of the Wafaqi Mohtasib. While rejecting the representation of SLICP, the President noted that under the Article 32 of the Establishment of the Office of Wafaqi Mohtasib Order 1983 read with Section 14 of the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act 2013, any person aggrieved by the order of the Mohtasib may file a representation within 30 days before the Honourable President.
He stated that in both cases, the orders of the Mohtasib were forwarded to the agency on 26.05.2021 whereas both the instant representations of SLICP were field on 07.07.2021.
The President observed that the extant law didn’t empower the condonation of delay to entertain a representation which is time barred, adding that it is liable to be rejected out rightly as incompetent and time barred. He remarked that the agency did not challenge the declarations made by the deceased policyholders about their good state of health and treated the insurance policies as “good risk” and a valid contract since the date of issuance of policies till their deaths for all intents and purposes.
He ordered to estop the agency to assail the policy after the death of policyholders as the agency repudiated the claim without issuing any notices and without providing the complainants the opportunity of being heard. The President in his decision wrote that the agency did not fulfil the requirements of natural justice which is one of the most sacred principles and its violation is always considered enough to vitiate even the most solemn proceeding.
“Therefore, the representation is rejected at it is time barred and the Agency must consider the matter further, redress the grievance of the complainants by paying them death insurance claims, take disciplinary actions against delinquent officers under relevant laws and report compliance within 30 days”, he ordered.
