Business

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has said that Pakistan’s 0.3 per cent market share in the $1.6 trillion global food and agricultural trade is not commensurate with the country’s inherent agricultural potential. Presiding over a meeting of the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products on Thursday, Mr Qaiser instructed the sub-committee, Ministry of Commerce (MoC) and the Ministry …

ISLAMABAD: To enhance the quality and outreach of mobile telephony as well as broadband services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecomm­unication (MoITT) on Thursday issued policy directives to the regulator for the auction of spectrum in the regions. The government also approved additional spectrum for the state-owned telecom operator — …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday said it would establish its office in Malakand division for timely implementation of law in letter and spirit. In this regard, the FBR has directed the Regional Tax Office Peshawar to set up a tax office in Malakand division for prompt release of consignments, processing of consumption and exemption certificates. Besides, …

KARACHI: The US dollar on Thursday hit a 10-month high, crossing the Rs164 mark. The dollar has been appreciating against the rupee since May because of a number of reasons, including the higher current account deficit and import bills. Each month of the second half of the financial year FY21 witnessed a current account deficit but it remained in surplus …

LAHORE: MCB Bank Limited on Wednesday declared second interim cash dividend of Rs5 per share (that is 50pc), bringing the total cash dividend for the half-year ended on June 30 to 95 per cent, in continuation of its highest dividend payout trend. The approval was given by the bank’s board at a meeting presided over by its chairman Mian Mohammad …

LAHORE: Cotton prices are touching new highs in the local market amid a fall in local production, delay in cotton shipments from abroad and rising dollar-rupee disparity. The Karachi Cotton Association quoted Rs13,580 per maund as the spot rate for the white lint, while the seed cotton rates prevailed between Rs5,200 and Rs6,200 per maund on Wednesday. The ex-gin price …

ISLAMABAD: The Fed­eral Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued rules for prize schemes for those who shop at big retailers, integrated with the computerised system of the tax machinery. The rules were notified through a notification SRO1005 of 2021 released on Wednesday. The government has come up with an incentive scheme to encourage the shoppers for documentation of sales tax …

KARACHI: Robust sales of cars, trucks, jeeps, pickups and tractors were noted in July, while for buses, two- and three-wheeler segments the first month of the fiscal year proved a bit turbulent. The overall car sales rose by 104 per cent to 20,669 units in July versus 10,123 units in July 2020. Car assemblers had already enjoyed a big sales …

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Com­mi­t­tee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Remittance Loyalty Programme (NRLP) envisaging incentives for overseas Pakistanis to sustain positive trajectory of remittances. “The NRLP will offer incentives/rewards to overseas Pakistanis for sending remittances to Pakistan based on point’s accumulation structure,” said a summary presented by Incharge Secretary Finance Yousaf Khan to the ECC …

KARACHI: The stock of investments held by scheduled banks at the end of July amounted to Rs14.1 trillion, up 30.4 per cent from a year ago, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday showed. The sharp increase in banks’ lending to the government through risk-free instruments like Treasury bills (T-bills) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) is …