Ambiguous import agreement makes LNG expensive for Pakistan: CCP on November 16, 2018KARACHI: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has said that lack of transparency is making the long-term G2G Agreement between Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Qatar Gas for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import an expensive deal for Pakistan. In 2016, when the long-term G2G agreement was signed, the price of crude oil was low in […]
Pakistan’s trade balance improving as exports continue to grow on November 13, 2018Pakistan’s trade account is showing early signs of improvement under the spirit of the new economic policy as country’s trade deficit in first four months of current fiscal fell to $ -11.8 billion from the $ -12.1 billion reported in corresponding period of last fiscal, official data showed on Monday. The overall trade deficit contracted […]
Inflation hits 7% in October on high energy prices on November 3, 2018The latest data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) shows that Pakistan’s inflation rate accelerated notably in outgoing month as consumer price index rose by 7.0% on year-on-year basis in October 2018 compared to an increase of 5.1% in the previous month and 3.8% in October 2017. On month-on-month basis, it increased by 2.6% […]
SBP lowers ‘ambitious’ GDP growth target to 4.7-5.2% on October 19, 2018KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) while terming the real GDP growth target of 6.2 per cent for fiscal year 2108-19 (FY19) ambitious has projected that the real GDP growth of Pakistan in the ongoing fiscal will stay around 4.7 to 5.2 per cent. In annual report on the state of Pakistan’s economy for […]
FBR’s CREST detects hundreds of possible tax fraud activities on October 18, 2018KARACHI: The Computerized Risk-based Evaluation of Sales Tax (CREST), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) software to facilitate taxpayers, has identified suspicious activities of hundreds of registered persons, who are declaring continuous carryforwards without making any payment of sales tax, Daily Times has learnt. The FBR is capturing transactions by registered persons to identify where a […]
Pakistan’s competition watchdog urges govt not to grant new incentives to local automakers on October 6, 2018KARACHI: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has urged new government not to grant similar incentives to the existing local auto assemblers that are offered in the in the Auto Policy 2016-21 to new entrants. “There are growing demands by the existing players to grant them similar incentives to increase their production beyond current levels. […]
New committee to be formed to resolve industrial community’s issues on October 5, 2018The federal government has decided to form Government-Citizens Liaison Committee (GCLC) in order to resolve Karachi based industrialists’ problems related to federal ministries and authorities. This was announced by Sindh Governor Imran Ismail while addressing industrialists of Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) at SITE Association’s office on Thursday. Ismail said GCLC will have representatives of […]
Amid growing economic challenges, SBP hikes key interest rate to 8.5% on September 30, 2018KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Saturday said that in light of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to raise the target policy rate by 100 bps from 7.5% to 8.5% effective from October 1, 2018. The committee noted that while non-oil imports are responding to the […]
New government: ADB sees positive economic prospects for Pakistan on September 27, 2018KARACHI: With the new Pakistani government considering policy options to implement its economic and social agenda, twin deficits widened by a rising import bill and higher spending continue to pose a challenge, according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Update 2018. The report says the newly elected Pakistani government should address the large budget and […]
PTI’s mini budget draws mixed reactions on September 19, 2018Industry analysts have generally expressed both positive and negative perceptions about the incumbent government’s amendments to the budget for fiscal 2018-2019 announced Tuesday. While some lauded the budget for giving priority to textile and corporate sectors which will serve as a backbone to industrial growth, others expressed concerns over the inadequate attention given to certain […]