Business

ISLAMABAD: The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have decried their ‘unending audits’ ordered by the government as anti-investment and demanded improved security and better vigilance to check the menace of oil smuggling reportedly causing over Rs250 billion per annum revenue loss. Reacting to a letter from the Ministry of Energy Petroleum Division to 25 OMCs, including refineries, for audit of their …

KARACHI: Industries and Production Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtiar has said that addition of 900MW in power generation capacity for Karachi is a gift for people and the industries. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate K-Electric’s Bin Qasim Power Station III project as soon as it’s completed. Mr Bakhtiar on Thursday met members of the KE’s senior management at …

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has launched contactless biometric verification services for the banking and payments industry, making Pakistan one of the first countries in the world to implement the technology on national level. The service was launched during a visit by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir to the Nadra headquarters here on …

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet on Thursday allowed about 13 paisa per litre increase in port charges for oil products at Fauji Oil Terminal Company (Fotco) and approved an import tender for procurement of 120,000 tonnes of wheat, having a landed cost of about Rs2,470 per 40kg. A meeting of ECC, presided over by Minister for Finance …

ISLAMABAD: The country’s top three mobile companies — Jazz, Telenor and Zong 4G — have decided to stay away from the Sept 16 auction of additional spectrum, leaving only Ufone in the field as the last date to submit the bids in this regard expired on Thursday. As the three major players have stayed away from the bidding process citing …

KARACHI: Investors’ fears of stock meltdown materialised as the KSE-100 index sank 333 points, or 0.71 per cent, to close at 46,397 on Wednesday. According to schedule, MSCI, the global index provider, announced its decision on Tuesday night, reclassifying Pakistan to Frontier Market (FM) from the Emerging Market (EM) from Dec 1. That ended the Pakistani market’s four-year stint in …

ISLAMABAD: The government has started the audit of all oil refineries and oil marketing companies (OMCs) to rule out the possibility of irregularities in taxes, product sourcing and transportation costs. A senior government official told Dawn the Petroleum Division had asked 25 OMCs and refineries to ensure availability of relevant personal and entire record for examination by the audit teams. In the …

ISLAMABAD: The government’s plan to raise up to $1 billion through auction of additional spectrum on Sept 16 is likely to be adversely affected because two out of the four Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) are reluctant to participate actively demanding low rates, Dawn has learnt from sources in the telecom sector. The sources said the senior managements of the two CMOs have …

ISLAMABAD: The first-ever EU-Pakistan Business Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises was launched on Wednesday which is aimed at boosting trade with countries in the European Union. The objective of the forum is to provide opportunities to both EU and Pakistani businesses to work together to become engines of development and partnership and contribute to enhancing bilateral trade. The business …

KARACHI: Banks approved over Rs59 billion till the end of August under the government’s flagship markup subsidy scheme Mera PakistanMera Ghar. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday said that as a result of numerous measures taken by it and support of the government, lending for the housing finance scheme had picked up momentum. The SBP said since the …