ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday announced a significant reduction in the prices of petroleum products, with cuts reaching up to 39 percent. This move aims to pass on the benefits of the massive decline in international oil prices to the public.
(more…)Tag: Finance Division
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Rules drafted for issuance of saving securities for NRI Pakistanis
ISLAMABAD: The Finance Division has drafted rules for issuance of scripless saving scheme for Non-Resident Individuals (NRIs) Pakistanis, which will be available in three different tenure securities.
The rules shall be called the ‘Overseas Pakistani Saving Bills Rules, 2020.’ The non-resident Pakistanis having national identity cards for overseas Pakistanis, foreigners having Pakistan origin card, members of overseas Pakistanis foundation or an employee or official of the federal government or a provincial government posted abroad are eligible to open foreign currency account and NRAR as per existing regulations shall purchase the bill.
The finance division said that the bill shall be issued in scripless form or any other form or format as approved by the finance division in consultation with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
It further said that the bill would be issued in conventional form and also in Shariah compliant form as per Shariah structure.
The bill shall be issued for three, six or twelve months or any other tenor. Further, the bill shall be issued in both Pak Rupee and US Dollar or any other currency.
The minimum denomination of the bill and maximum investment limit shall be as announced by the finance division.
It said that the bill shall be issued through selected commercial banks that would be selected by the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) in consultation with the SBP. CDNS shall issue or allocate inventory of scripless bill to agent bank for issuance to their foreign currency (FCY) or NRAR account holders.
The agent bank shall keep the bill inventory so received by CDNS in the CDNS securities account to be opened with them and shall make arrangements to update CDNS about the usage of the inventory and its reconciliation with CDNS.
The agent banks shall also open investment portfolio securities (IPS) accounts of the account holders purchasing the bill and credit the bill in the IPS accounts.
The funds for investment in bills must be remitted from abroad as per prevailing regulations and processes. Provided that funds remitted in the non-resident foreign currency accounts and NRAR accounts of the investor after April 15, 2020 may be used for investment in the bills. Provided further that the residents’ foreign currency accounts shall not be used for investment in the bill.
Explaining rate of return, the finance division said that it would notify the rate of return on the bill and frequency of payment from time to time. Undrawn profit shall not be eligible for compounding. Profit payment shall be made directly only to the account of the investor.
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FDI data collected on fiscal year basis: Finance Division
ISLAMABAD: The Finance Division on Friday clarified news reports and said that the data of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) collected on fiscal year basis not on calendar year basis.
Finance Division has described as factually incorrect and misleading a news item published in a section of the press claiming that the foreign direct investment flows into Pakistan had dropped by 20 per cent in 2019.
In an official statement, the Finance Division has clarified that a news report published in a segment of the press has highlighted that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into Pakistan declined by 20 percent to $1.9 billion in 2019 (calendar year) against $2.4 billion in 2018.
In this context, it is clarified that FDI data is collected on the basis of fiscal years, whereas the quoted figure is taken on calendar year basis.
Furthermore, on fiscal year basis, FDI has increased by 68.3 percent during July-December 2019 as compared to same period of last year (from $0.797 billion to $1.341 billion)