Business

KARACHI: Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Chief Executive Officer Syed Shuja Hasan told a labour court on Monday that the mills could see further layoffs in the days to come since it has been slated for privatisation by the government and is not viable with its current labour force. The PSM management has already announced the sacking of 4,544 employees last …

cul ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asked field formations to establish help desks to receive manual requests for extension in filing tax returns to facilitate non-filers. The direction came ahead of the last date with a clear decision that no further general extension in the date will be granted to file income tax returns after Dec 8. …

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has urged the provincial governments to strictly monitor and bring down the prices of chicken. Presiding over a meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee held at the Finance Division on Monday to discuss the prices and supply position of essential food items, he asked the …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received nearly 23 per cent less income tax returns for the tax year 2020 compared to the preceding year ahead of the Dec 8 deadline. The board received 1.31 million tax returns until Dec 5 as against 1.69m returns filed in the tax year 2019. These include both salaried and non-salaried individuals, …

The economic recovery we currently see in Pakistan is weak and slow. Whether it can be strengthened and accelerated depends as much on politics as on economic policymaking. Some signs of the economic recovery are obvious: the large-scale manufacturing (LSM) output has started growing, tax revenue collection is finally catching up with the target, the current account is in surplus, …

• Evaluation department cites lack of political backing to reforms • Report finds fault with bank’s performance ISLAMABAD: The independent evaluation department (IED) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed concern over insufficient political support to reforms, inadequate staffing and poor funding to development projects, resulting in suboptimal outcome of its $7 billion support over the past five years. …

Another week, another report from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). It’s the Payments Systems Review for July-September. It reveals that the total payments transactions grew by 23 per cent year-on-year in volume and 8pc in value in the first quarter of 2020-21. Mostly the report tells us what we have already been seeing for a long time: PRISM transactions …

Oil prices slipped on Monday from multi-month highs as a continued surge in coronavirus cases globally forced a series of renewed lockdowns, including strict new measures in Southern California in the United States, the world’s top oil consumer. Brent crude oil futures were down 21 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $49.04 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate oil futures …

QUETTA: Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that the opening of border trade routes will boost the country’s economy enormously and benefit the people linked with it. During a visit to the border town of Chaman, the authorities concerned briefed the minister about the International Trade Border Management System and development projects initiated by the National Logistics Cell in …

NEW DELHI: India’s government failed on Saturday to break a deadlock with farmers protesting over agricultural reforms and will meet again on Wednesday, the agriculture minister and union leaders said. Thousands of Indian farmers have demonstrated against the laws, which they say threaten their livelihoods, by camping on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi and blocking highways. Prime Minister …