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Tag: finance ministry

  • Motor vehicle tax collection plummets by 15 percent to Rs16.73 billion

    Motor vehicle tax collection plummets by 15 percent to Rs16.73 billion

    ISLAMABAD: The collection of motor vehicle tax has registered 15 percent decline during first nine months of current fiscal year, according to data released by the ministry of finance.

    According to fiscal operation for first nine months issued by the finance ministry showed that the provinces had collected Rs16.73 billion during July – March 2019/2020 as compared with R19.64 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

    The provinces have mandate to collect motor vehicle tax.

    The lower collection of motor vehicle tax attributed to slowdown in economy and the cases of coronavirus started appearing in the month of March 2020, which resulted in lockdown.

    The major slump in collection recorded by the Punjab province, which posted 19.5 percent decline to Rs9.55 billion during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with Rs11.87 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

    The Sindh province posted 4 percent decline to Rs5.52 billion during July – March 2019/2020 as compared with Rs5.75 billion collected in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

    The collection of motor vehicle tax by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered 18 percent decline to Rs1.14 billion during first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared with Rs1.39 billion collected in the same period of the last fiscal year.

    The province of Balochistan collected Rs515 million during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with Rs615 million in the same months of the last fiscal year, showing decline of 16 percent.

  • Coronavirus may deeply distort economic fabric of Pakistan: Hafeez Shaikh

    Coronavirus may deeply distort economic fabric of Pakistan: Hafeez Shaikh

    ISLAMABAD: Coronavirus led impacts are expected to deeply distort economic fabric of Pakistan, said Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue.

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  • Commission constituted to review salary, perks of government employees

    Commission constituted to review salary, perks of government employees

    ISLAMABAD: The federal government has constituted a pay and pension commission to review existing salary and perks.

    According to the finance ministry, the government of Pakistan had constituted a Pay and Pension Commission, with effect from 14-04-2020.

    The Composition of the Commission shall be as follows:

    Mr. Wajid Rana, Former Federal Secretary, Chairman.

    Mr. Nazar Hussain Mahar, Retired Civil Servant, Member.

    Dr. Noor Alam, Retired Civil Servant, Member.

    Ms. Seema Kamil, President, United Bank Limited, Karachi, Member.

    Mr. Zubyr Soomro, Chairman, Board of Directors, National Bank of Pakistan, Member.

    Ms. Nausheen Ahmed, Company Secretary, ICI (Pakistan) Limited, Member.

    MEMBERS EX-OFFICIO

    Secretary, Finance Division, Government of Pakistan, Member.

    Secretary, Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan, Member.

    Secretary, Defence Division, Government of Pakistan, Member.

    Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Punjab, Member.

    Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Member.

    Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Sindh, Member.

    Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Balochistan, Member.

    Secretary, Finance Department, Government of AJ&K, Member.

    Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Gilgit Baltistan, Member.

    An Officer of BS-21 of the Auditor, General of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan, Member.

    An Officer of BS-21, Controller General of Accounts, Government of Pakistan, Member.

    Joint Secretary (Regulations), Finance Division, Government of Pakistan, Member/Secretary.

    The terms of Reference of the commission are as following.

    i) PAY & ALLOWANCES

    a) Study the adequacy of existing Basic Pay Scale System and to evaluate the current salaries of Government employees throughout the federation including the provincial government and recommend measures for its improvement and uniformity. Also make recommendations for the streamlining of existing classification from BPS 1-22.

    b) Study the separations of existing Basic Pay Scales for specialized departments/occupations/cadres.

    c) Review of Special Scales such as Management Grades, Management Position Scales (MP Scales), Special Professional Pay Scales (SPPS), Project Pay Scales etc. and propose measures for uniformity and improvement.

    d) Review of admissible Regular allowance, Special incentives and all other allowances with a view to highlight prevalent distortions and recommend corrective measures.

    e) Review of existing perks and facilities and make recommendations, including possibility of their monetization.

    1)  PENSION

    To Review the Pension system of the Government of Pakistan:

    A) Highlight existing distortions and anomalies in the Pension Scheme and recommend remedial measures. Verify the sustainability of the current model after critically evaluating future liabilities through an actuarial study.

    B) Evaluate alternate system of Pension like defined contribution and setting up of pension funds in light of international best practices and recommend a system with clear timelines that is more efficient and sustainable, considering the available recourses.

    iii) To Review the existing incentive regime (honorarium and special rewards) and recommend improvement in it.

    iv) To evaluate and recommend legislative measures to protect and streamline Pay, Pension and Allowances regime for government employees.

    v) The Commission may, if so desired by the Government, make interim recommendation to provide interim relief, pending the submission of its final report.

    vi) The Commission shall have power to co-opt any person or agency to assist it in its deliberations>

    vii) The Finance Division shall provide Secretariat support to the Commission and the Commission shall make its recommendations within 6 Months of its constitution. While formulating its proposal/recommendations on the above terms of reference, the pay and pension commission would take into consideration the financial recourses of the Government.

    The scope of work of the Commission will include Federal and Provincial civil servants, other government servants, civilians paid from defence estimates, all Armed Forces/Civil Armed Forces personnel and holders of the posts in Management Scales and employees of such Public sector corporations/autonomous/semi-autonomous bodies, other than Banks and DFIs, which have adopted the scheme of Basic Pay Scales in toto.

    Employees of Public Sector Corporations/Autonomous/Semi-Autonomous bodies who are regulated under the Pay Scales prescribed by these organizations and the employees governed under the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 and/or whose financial terms of service are settled through Collective Bargaining Agents, are executed from the scope of work of the Pay & Pension Commission.

  • Pakistan seeks $1.4 billion additional IMF loan

    Pakistan seeks $1.4 billion additional IMF loan

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has initiated negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an additional grant of $1.4 billion on fast track basis.

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  • FBR advised to enhance monitoring, enforcement for achieving annual targets

    FBR advised to enhance monitoring, enforcement for achieving annual targets

    ISLAMABAD: The ministry of finance has advised Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to enhance monitoring and enforcement in order to achieve annual targets.

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  • Fiscal deficit narrows at 2.3% in first half 2019/2020

    Fiscal deficit narrows at 2.3% in first half 2019/2020

    KARACHI: The ministry of finance on Friday said that the fiscal deficit narrowed at 2.3 percent of the GDP during first half (July – December) 2019/2020 as compared with 2.7 percent in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year.

    Analysts at Topline Securities said importantly though, the primary balance during the period clocked in at 0.7 percent of GDP (last year was -0.3 percent of GDP), within the target of 0.6 percent set by the IMF.

    In the second quarter of 2019/2020, the fiscal deficit came in at 1.6 percent of GDP compared to first quarter of current fiscal year deficit of 0.7 percent of GDP.

    All the four provinces recorded a budgetary surplus during the first half and second quarter of the current fiscal year.

    During the first half of 2019/2020, total revenues increased by 39 percent YoY, where the improvement was led by 18 percent YoY higher tax revenues (however less than targeted) and 213 percent YoY higher non-tax revenues.

    Looking into further breakup of revenues, government collected 17 percent YoY higher Direct taxes, 24 percent YoY higher Sales Tax and 68 percent YoY higher Petroleum Levy during first half of the current fiscal year.

    The government hugely benefited from 575 percent YoY higher profits from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the first half of the current fiscal year (also 31 percent QoQ higher in the second quarter of the current fiscal year), which is around 0.8 percent of GDP.

    The fees fetched through the auction of telecom licenses (PTA profits: 607 percent YoY higher in the first half of the current fiscal year) also helped the government achieve the primary balance target.

    On the expenditures front, total expenses increased by 26 percent YoY. Current expenditures increased by 25 percent YoY, where Mark-up Payments were up 46 percent YoY and Defense expenses were up 10 percent YoY. Excluding these items, government’s own expenses increased by 17 percent YoY during the first half of the current fiscal year (also up 49 percent QoQ in second quarter of the current fiscal year).

    _ The development expenditure remained healthy, where growth of 28 percent YoY was witnessed in 1HFY20 and 122 percent QoQ in 2QFY20.

  • Finance ministry urges careful media reporting over ebb

    Finance ministry urges careful media reporting over ebb

    ISLAMABAD: The ministry of finance on Tuesday urged the media for careful reporting over the ebb and flows of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

    “Yesterday as being unfortunate as such reports highlighting sharp volatility in the market damage the interest of the small investors and create uncertainty in the market,” a statement said.

    “The role of the media in reporting the ebb and flow in the market needs to be carefully analyzed particularly in the wake of rumors spread by a section of the media regarding alleged changes in the government’s economic team which sent wrong signal to the market and damaged the interest of small investors and hurt overall sentiment in the market,” says it added.

    The Ministry of Finance has noted that it is natural for the market to see a correction after rising sharply by over 50 percent.

    “Yesterday, the market fell 846 points. Today the market gained 417 points. These ebbs and flows of the market are driven by sentiments, whereas the fundamentals remain strong and continue to improve.”

    The Ministry of Finance also pointed out that after rising by 50 percent from August 2019 to January 2020, the KSE 100 index had already been named as the top performing market in the world by Bloomberg in December 2019.

    The improved investor confidence was based on corrective measures taken by the government to reduce the twin deficits.

    These measures were also strongly endorsed by Moody’s Investor Services in December 2019 with an upgrade in outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’.

    Foreign portfolio investment in the stock market during the first 6 months of the current fiscal year has also stood at US$ 18.8 million after 4 years of heavy selling by foreign investors.

  • Finance ministry hopes ease in inflation in coming days

    Finance ministry hopes ease in inflation in coming days

    ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Finance has said that the outcome of stabilization policies, agriculture sector interventions, rigorous monitoring at federal/provincial levels, and favorable weather will bring better results in easing out inflation and sustaining the economy towards growth and productivity in the coming days.

    Adverse effects of pre-monsoon rains on the wheat crop, disruption of the supply chain of essential items due to harsh winters and thick fog, delay in harvest and arrival of the crop in the market, and lower production of vegetables, including tomato in Sindh, led to higher food inflation but the change of weather and better supply of potatoes, tomatoes and onions should result in smooth supply and decrease price pressure, says the Finance Division in an official statement on Monday.

    The Finance Division noted that another factor contributing to higher inflation was the global price impact due to international commodity prices like Palm oil increased by 43.9 percent, Soybean oil by 12.8 percent, Crude oil by 16.6 percent, etc December 2019 over December 2018 also pushed up the domestic prices. A downward trajectory in crude oil in the market will result in a downward pattern in domestic prices in the coming months.

    While the factors above are likely to ease the inflation, the government has also taken several relief measures to protect the vulnerable from the price-hike. These measures include the provision of subsidy to Utility Stores Corporation on 05 essential items for which Rs. 7 billion has been transferred to Ministry of Industries and Production; Rs. 226.5 billion allocated in the budget, Rs. 141 billion already released so far, for low-end consumers using less than 300 units of electricity in a month; PM’s Ehsaas program with doubled social safety net allocation of Rs.190bn from 100bn; out of Rs. 24 billion allocated for a gas subsidy, Rs. 12 billion have so far been released; and Rs. 1000 per family given to 5.1 million families as a special transfer in August 2019.

    Similarly, Rs. 5,000 quarterly tranche was paid to 4.3 million poor families in December 2019; Under Kifalat monthly stipends of Rs. 2,000 per month to 4.5 million families for consumption smoothing starting from 1st February 2020; 1 million new beneficiaries to be added to Kifalat in the next five months with a monthly transfer of Rs. 2,000; undergraduate scholarships to cover the cost of tuition fees and other expenses at the university for 50,000 needy students; Rs. 750 for boys and Rs. 1,000 for girls quarterly stipends to primary school-going children three million children covered; record allocation Rs.152 bn for merged FATA districts; and reduced GST on LPG to 10 percent from 17 percent.

    The Ministry of Finance said the government had also devised a strategy to control and ease out the impact of inflation through a host of policy measures which included ECC permission for import of 0.3 million tons of wheat to decrease the local wheat price and meet the domestic requirement; Zero borrowing by Govt from SBP in Current FY.

    Government retired Rs. 837.2 billion (1st July-17th January 2020) compared to the borrowing of Rs. 3770.5 billion same periods last year; Reduction in fiscal deficit, primary surplus H1FY 20; monetary tightening and demand compression by austerity; complete restriction on supplementary grants; prices monitoring Cell in Ministry of National Food Security & Research to check price hikes of essential food items; network of Sasta Bazaars and Utility Store outlets is being expanded for provision of essential items; cheaper Roti provided with a subsidy of Rs.1.5 bn for public tandoors; provincial governments monitoring the display of price list and quality of items in the open market and Sasta Bazaars; and 10) effective measures being taken by the CCP to control Cartelization and undue Profiteering

  • National Savings screening meant to stop ill-gotten money: Finance Division

    National Savings screening meant to stop ill-gotten money: Finance Division

    ISLAMABAD: The Finance Division on Monday said that the screening of all saving schemes is meant to stop any ill-gotten money to become part of financial system and to safeguard the valued investors from the menace of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.

    The Ministry of Finance, while clarifying news reports, said that Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) is committed to mitigating the deficiency to improve customer service delivery and to comply with the FATF recommendation to safeguard the investors’ interests.

    Banks under the supervision of SBP have already put in place all the required systems and KYCs (Know Your Customers) processes to comply with the FATF recommendations.

    In order to implement this requirement, Finance Division through promulgation of National Savings Schemes (AML-CFT) Rules, 2019 has decided to engage an AML-CFT compliant bank, through competitive bidding, to put in place the requirements as well as the necessary training of employees of National Savings.

    Accordingly, Expression of Interest, in consultation with SBP, has been sought from the interested bank to conduct KYC and other requirement of new as well as existing clients of CDNS.

    This will include the biometric verisys and screening of potential clients in UN Proscribed person List.

    All these screenings are meant to stop any ill-gotten money to become part of financial system and to safeguard the valued investor from the menace of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.

    Finance Division therefore reiterates that the steps of the Government are aimed at making the CDNS compliant with the FATF requirement and are not intended to jeopardize the interests of the account holders / customers.

    Moreover, third-party arrangement will make the organization i.e CDNS more transparent and viable for the customers and will not in any case affect its financial business.

  • National Saving Scheme AML, CFT Rules: Supervisory board constituted for monitoring

    National Saving Scheme AML, CFT Rules: Supervisory board constituted for monitoring

    ISLAMABAD: The ministry of finance has constituted supervisory board to provide independent oversight of implementation of National Savings Schemes (AML and CFT) Rules, 2019.

    The advisory board has been comprised of:

    01. Additional Finance Secretary (Budget): Chairman

    02. Syed Jahangir Shah, Director, State Bank of Pakistan: Member

    03. Ms. Tanzila Nisar Mirza, Additional Director, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan: Member

    04. Adnan Imran, Director, Financial Monitoring Unit: Member

    05. Joint Secretary (B-1), Ministry of Finance: Member/Secretary

    As per the rules, the Supervisory Board shall provide independent oversight of implementation of these rules and take necessary enforcement actions against violations thereof.

    The Finance Division shall provide all secretarial and administrative support to the Board for effective discharge of its responsibilities.

    The Board shall, within two months of the commencement of these rules, devise its SOPs for supervision of CDNS to ensure compliance with AML and CFT requirements.

    The Board shall have powers to issue appropriate standard operating procedures(SOPs), demand receipt of appropriate management information system on periodical basis, direct CDNS to take such actions as may be required to address deficiencies pointed out during such assessments and advise such enforcement actions as it may deem necessary.

    The Board shall have powers to direct CDNS to take all reasonable measures to ensure compliance with provisions of the AML Act, 2010 and these rules.

    The Board shall have powers to compel production of any information or record it may require for the discharge of its responsibilities and CDNS shall provide the information and record in such format and within such timelines as may be specified by the Board.

    The Board shall have powers to engage chartered accountant firms from SBP’s approved panel of auditors to conduct onsite examinations, assess ML and TF risks posed, assess corresponding controls and determine compliance with the AML Act, 2010 and these rules and regulations issued from time to time.

    If any provision of these rules, is contravened, or if any default is made in complying with any requirement of these rules or orders or SOPs issued there under, by any officer or official of CDNS, the person who contravened shall be punishable in accordance with the law for the time being in force.