Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb disclosed to the National Assembly on Thursday that there are no plans for new legislation to extend tax and duty exemptions for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) regions.
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Finance Minister Commits to Resolve Tajir Dost Scheme Concerns
Islamabad, April 23, 2024 – In a key meeting held on Tuesday, Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb promised to address the concerns of the association of small traders regarding the recently introduced Tajir Dost Scheme.
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Finance Minister Rules Out Rupee Devaluation Ahead of IMF Talks
Finance Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, has unequivocally ruled out any substantial rupee devaluation in anticipation of forthcoming discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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Pakistan Optimistic About $1.5 Billion Inflows Soon After IMF Disbursement
Islamabad, November 24, 2023 – Pakistan is optimistic about receiving $1.5 billion in inflows from various donor agencies soon after the disbursement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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State-Owned Enterprises Report Annual Losses of Rs500 Billion, Says Finance Minister
Pakistan’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) incurred significant annual losses of around Rs500 billion during the year 2022 due to inefficiencies and mismanagement, according to Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, the Caretaker Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs.
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Caretaker Finance Minister Says Pakistan’s Economy Shows Signs of Recovery
Islamabad, September 15, 2023 – Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, the Caretaker Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, and Privatization, announced that Pakistan’s economy is displaying indications of recovery due to the efforts made by the caretaker government. Speaking at a press conference, Dr. Akhtar highlighted various positive economic indicators.
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KCCI Delegation Meets Finance Minister to Boost Business Support
The delegation of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to business support. The Finance Minister reassured that the government is committed to supporting the business and industrial sector to ensure economic growth and stability in the country.
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PSW to reduce trade cost, time, and complications: Tarin
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Friday said that Pakistan Single Window (PSW) will facilitate trade by reducing cost, time and complications.
Shaukat Tarin presided over the first meeting of Governing Council of PSW held at the Finance Division.
The finance minister appreciated the progress and stated that PSW will reduce time, cost and complications while contributing significantly towards ease of doing business in the country.
He said that PSW will enable Pakistan to unlock its potential in becoming a hub for regional as well as international trade and transit.” Deep rooted reforms being undertaken under PSW program by the government will promote trade competitiveness with enhanced transparency and efficiency,” Tarin added.
The new system will leverage information and communication technology to ensure better compliance with the cross-border trade regulations.
The finance minister commended the efforts of Pakistan Customs as the lead agency of PSW program and all those who have been part of PSW, a transformational project, which will take Pakistan’s trade to the next level. He affirmed full support and facilitation on the occasion.
The Secretary of the Governing Council briefed the Finance Minister about the PSW, a virtual system which is connecting the concerned Ministries, Customs, port authorities, banks and other relevant departments after major process re-engineering to provide a single window for management of international trade.
The PSW is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport in Pakistan to lodge standardized information and documents at a single registration point.
This eliminates the hidden costs and removes inefficiencies in governance of international trade including logistics.
He further briefed that first phase of PSW program has been rolled out while its 2nd and 3rd phases will be completed within the next two years.
The implementation of PSW will make Pakistan’s ports competitive by minimizing the transaction costs and also enhance efficient provision of B2B and B2C value added services. The cargo would be cleared in a minimum possible time.
Over 75 regulatory departments will be fully integrated through ICT based system, providing a single point of entry to facilitate trading across borders with minimal need for any physical contact, he added.
The Governing Council (GC) is the apex body in the approved Business model of PSW under Pakistan Single Window Act, promulgated in April this year.
The GC comprises of key stakeholders and prominent private sector subject specialists to oversee timely completion of this important project while removing hurdles in its implementation.
The Finance Minister is the Chairperson of PSW’s Governing Council which also includes Secretary Commerce, Secretary M/o NFS&R, Secretary Maritime Affairs, Secretary Science & Technology, Secretary Narcotics Control Division, Member Customs Operations and CEO PSW Company.
Among others, Federal Secretary for Narcotics Akbar Durrani, Additional Secretary Commerce, Additional Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Member Customs FBR and senior officers of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Maritime Affairs participated in the meeting.
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Tarin chairs meeting of monetary, fiscal policies board
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Monetary and Fiscal Policies Co-ordination Board.
Other members of the Board present in the meeting were the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce & Investment, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Governor SBP, Dr. Asad Zaman and senior officials of the Finance Division.
Finance Minister briefed the Members of the Board on the current economic situation of the country and highlighted the major incentives given in the budget due to which business confidence is improving and economy is moving on strong economic recovery path.
It was also informed that all key economic indicators relating to real sector of the economy, fiscal sector, monetary and external sectors are going well and government is proactively executing all policy measures to achieve the major socio-economic targets of the current fiscal year.
He also highlighted the possible risks to the economic activities and strategy to counter these risks which were appreciated by the members of the Board.
Secretary Finance briefed the Members of the Board on budgetary allocations for various activities and informed about the ways and means to maintain the fiscal discipline.
He also shared the strategy to contain the non-development expenditure with the focus to optimally utilize resources of the country and improve the service delivery at large for the common man.
Governor SBP informed the Board about Monetary Policy stance. He shared the analysis of the SBP on policy rate, credit availability, exchange rate movement and inflationary situation.
He also explained that policy mix is supporting the growth momentum and highlighted the increase in commodities prices in the global market which have implications for higher import bill and inflation.
It was also informed that it is encouraging signs that exports are picking up along with increase in import of machineries which will enhance productive capacity of the economy and create exportable surplus.
He also explained the policy measures which SBP is executing to encourage business activities in various sectors of the economy and highlighted that there are ample opportunities for investors/exporters and youth of the country to take benefits from SBP’s schemes to extend or initiate their business.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission apprised the meeting about the execution of development activities.
He also highlighted the possible options for resource mobilization and to utilize them effectively for development of potential sectors of the economy.
The Adviser to the PM on Commerce and Investment briefed about the structure of trade of the country along with major destinations.
He also presented the various measures which are under execution to enhance exports in potential areas. He also mentioned the various categories of imports which can be rationalized by focusing on their substitutes.
A comprehensive road map was also discussed to minimize trade deficit of the country. It was also highlighted that fiscal and monetary facilitation will continue for potential sectors of the economy.
Dr. Asad Zaman appreciated the major fiscal and monetary measures of the government which are supporting the business activities. He also highlighted the potential areas where Pakistan has comparative advantages in export market and also identified some low hanging fruits for import substitution.
He emphasized that the goal of well-coordinated Monetary and Fiscal Policies is to achieve full employment.
Minister for Finance & Revenue emphasized the importance of Monetary and Fiscal Policies Co-ordination Board for designing and executing policies to achieve economic targets and overcome the possible risks.
He advised to make this forum more effective for maintaining better coordination of policies to achieve the planned macroeconomic goals.
The chair urged that the Board should be more proactive in reviewing the impact of Fiscal and Monetary Policies on economic growth, employment and external sector of the economy, he concluded.
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Finance minister asks cement producers to reduce prices
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has emphasized to reduce the prices of cement as the industry is of paramount importance due to its backward and forward integration with the construction sector as a whole.
The finance minister held a meeting with the representatives of cement manufacturers at the Finance Division on Tuesday.
Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtiar, Secretary Ministry of Industries & Production, Secretary Finance Division and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
Secretary, Ministry of Industries and Production briefed the participants about the prevailing cement prices.
He also drew a comparison about changes in the price of cement per bag over the last three years particularly amid COVID-19 pandemic.
He highlighted the important role being played by the cement industry in stimulating economic growth during testing times.
In his remarks, the Finance Minister underscored the importance of cement as a building block of the Construction Industry.
He lauded the valuable contribution of the cement industry which has triggered a V-shape economic recovery during Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
He underlined various stimulus measures taken by the Government to support the construction industry that led to a strong rebound in economic activity during the ongoing pandemic, he added.
While speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister stressed the need to provide industrial inputs such as Cement and Steel at affordable prices to carry forward the momentum of economic recovery amid COVID-19 as well as in post-COVID-19 scenario.
He emphasized to reduce the prices of Cement as the cement industry is of paramount importance due to its backward and forward integration with the Construction sector as a whole.
The representatives of cement manufacturers also presented their perspective on the occasion. They were of the view that the recent escalation in the prices of cement are driven by the rise in input costs.
Also the overall profitability in the cement sector is still the lowest as compared to other countries in the region.
In his concluding remarks, the Finance Minister urged the representatives of the Cement Manufacturers to hold a consultative session with relevant stakeholders and present a firmed-up proposal regarding sustainable pricing mechanism for cement sector in order to boost the overall Construction Industry by providing industrial inputs at a reasonable cost.
The Finance Minister affirmed full support and facilitation to the cement industry on the occasion.