Business

ISLAMABAD: Three new companies are set to establish manufacturing units for mobile phones after recent relaxations in withholding tax. However, the investors will have to obtain multiple approvals as both the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) are the regulatory bodies in this regard. The government recently promulgated an ordinance abolishing WHT on locally …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday abolished a 10 paisa per unit surcharge on electricity and increased the price of ghee by Rs30 per kg (15 per cent) for sale at Utility Stores. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet presided over by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh that also approved …

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines on Thursday announced that it would start paying dues to its around 2,000 employees under the early retirement Voluntarily Separation Scheme (VSS) next week. The PIA statement came a day after the protesting employees of the airline had alleged that two former employees died of heart attack because they were under a lot of stress …

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday released details of millions of rupees of funds transferred from the United Kingdom to the party’s account this year. Releasing details of the funding, PTI’s Overseas International Chapter’s secretary Dr Abdullah Riyar said Rs88.7 million received from the UK was a “slap in the face of drummers”. He said that despite a …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce on Thursday announced that it will register Himalayan pink salt — extracted from the Salt Range which extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River — as Geographical Indications (GI). The decision was taken in a meeting with the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) Pakistan chaired by Commerce Adviser …

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Thursday said that owning bitcoin was only a little better than holding conventional cash, but that the slight difference made it a better asset to hold. “However, when fiat currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere,” Musk said in a tweet. “Bitcoin is almost as bs as fiat …

KARACHI: Massive imports of parts and accessories by new entrants under duty and tax incentives has caused a whooping jump of 79 per cent in arrival of completely and semi-knocked down (CKD/SKD) kits to $468 million in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (7MFY21). The increasing import bill on account of soaring parts and accessories imports suggests …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tele­communication Authority (PTA) on Wednesday urged the Federal Board of Revenue to stop illegal imports of GSM boosters that cause interference in frequency bands of mobile companies and deteriorates quality of cellular services in the area where these amplifiers are installed. In a letter to the FBR Member Customs, the telecom authority said only licensed Cellular Mobile …

ISLAMABAD: Having collected about Rs100 billion, the government has decided in principle to finally do away with Neelum-Jhelum surcharge, currently applied to all electricity consumers at the rate of 10 paisa per unit, after 13 years. A summary to this effect is expected to be approved by the Economic Coordina­tion Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in its meeting on Friday …

KARACHI: The country paid over $7 billion in external debt servicing for the first half of fiscal year 2020-21 (1HFY21) which looks significantly higher when compared with the foreign exch­ange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The country paid $3.55bn in external debt servicing for the second quarter of the current fiscal (2QFY21) — slightly higher than first …