Business

If and when the history of Pakistan’s technology sector is written, 2021 will be a standout year that saw the space emerge from a niche followed only by those working in it to the mainstream, well on Twitter at least. The key reason for that was obviously money finally started pouring in, and not just a handful of million dollars. …

KARACHI: The Collectorate of Customs Appraisement, Quetta, seized illegal urea fertiliser worth Rs7.2 million being smuggled to Afghanistan, according to a press release issued on Saturday. Upon receiving a tip-off about a vehicle carrying urea to Afghanistan from Chaman in the garb of fresh vegetables, the assistant collector at Custom House, Chaman, formed a team to ensure an effective execution …

KARACHI: Commodity producers across Pakistan will soon be able to directly sell their merchandise globally and receive payments promptly without having to register as exporters. Speaking to Dawn, Pakistan Mer­cantile Exchange (PMEX) Mana­ging Director Ejaz Ali Shah said the country’s only commodity futures exchange has set up a first-of-its-kind online marketplace under the name of Global Commodity Trading Platform (GCTP). “The …

KARACHI: Finance Ministry spokesperson Muzzammil Aslam took exception to the term “mini-budget” for describing the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, saying the legislative move is aimed at fixing the tax system instead of increasing revenue collection. “Mini-budget is what every government presented every year from 2002 to 2018. They’d miss collection targets and then revise the tax rates through mini-budgets. But …

ISLAMABAD: Prices of consumer goods continued to rise in December as inflation edged up to 12.3 per cent from 11.5pc, the largest increase recorded in nearly two years, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statis­tics (PBS) data released on Saturday. Inflation — measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — has increased to its highest level in 21 months — …

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the idea of granting Pakistani citizenship to investors from Afghanistan alone, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that such a policy should not be limited to any single country. According to official circles, the idea of granting permanent residency or citizenship to foreign nationals interested in investing in Pakistan was shared during a recent meeting of the Afghanistan …

KARACHI: In the third consecutive open market operation (OMO) in as many weeks, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday injected cash into the money market for an unusual 63-day period. The SBP provided banks with Rs604 billion liquidity against the offered amount of Rs963bn. It injected Rs330bn at 9.87 per cent for seven days in addition to providing …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs2.920 trillion in the first half of the current fiscal year (6MFY22), exceeding the target of Rs2.633tr by Rs287 billion, provisional data compiled by the tax body showed on Friday. The 6MFY22 collection witnessed a growth of 32.5pc when compared with Rs2.204tr the FBR collected in the same period of FY21. Month-on-month, …

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Ashfaq Ahmed on Friday admitted that it was difficult for the government’s economic team to defend withdrawal of Rs343 billion sales tax exemptions on the plea that these were mostly meant for the elite of the country. “I found it difficult to defend or defer the withdrawal of these exemptions during our negotiations with …

ISLAMABAD: The Eco­nomic Coordination Commi­ttee (ECC) of the cabinet on Friday approved the continuation of untargeted subsidy on five essential food items at Utility Stores outlets for only one month — January 2022. The decision was taken at a meeting of the ECC presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin. December 31, 2021 was the deadline for the untargeted subsidy …