Business

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday introduced a new mechanism to enable companies in Pakistan to conveniently remit out disinvestment proceeds to their foreign shareholders aiming to increase investor confidence. The SBP in a press release said the goal of this initiative is to make Pakistan a more attractive place for investment by increasing investors’ confidence and …

ISLAMABAD: As the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) claimed to have made Rs177 billion recoveries in first quarter of the current fiscal year, the Power Division on Tuesday called into question the publication of audit reports before conclusive decision by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). “The AGP made recoveries of Rs176.9bn during first quarter (July-September) of 2020-21”, said an official statement. The …

KARACHI: Stocks tumbled on Tuesday with the KSE-100 index taking a plunge of 468.64 points (1.12 per cent) to close at 41,381.83. The index ceded over 80pc of the splendid gains made a day earlier. With the momentum generated from the Monday’s closing near the day’s high, the index opened in the positive but only managed to gain 72 points …

KARACHI: Meeting the current year’s tax revenue target is going to be challenging task for the government since it has committed to increasing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collections by almost Rs1 trillion at a time the economy remains mired in low growth and high inflation, while the effects of Covid-19 still linger. “Look at the condition of the …

ISLAMABAD: With the Interna­tional Monetary Fund (IMF) programme in limbo, a whopping Rs400 billion energy support package for small and medium industries involving cheaper tariffs over a period of three years could not get through the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday. The ECC cleared Rs1,600 per 40 kg minimum support price (MSP) for coming wheat crop. …

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed a long pending set of petitions filed by almost all the industries challenging the establishment of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and the competence of parliament to enact a law on the subject of competition. Initially, the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) Association of Pakistan had filed a petition before the high …

ISLAMABAD: The ministry of science and technology has decided to outsource inspection of the mandatory food and non-food items. The ministry floated the information on its website, but officials and the experts in various departments of the ministry expressed concern over the plan. Currently, quality and standard of over 160 items are mandated for inspection to the Pakistan Standards and …

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,365 new companies in September, indicating an increase of 69 per cent as compared to corresponding period last year. Out of these newly registered, 68pc companies were registered as private limited companies, 29pc were registered as single member companies and 3pc were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit …

Increasing wheat imports along with those of tea, palm oil, spices and sugar caused a whopping jump of 56 per cent in the country’s food import bill in the first quarter of 2020-21. It amounted to $1.71 billion in the three-month period. In 2019-20, the food import bill plunged 4.31pc to $5.42bn. In September alone, the food import bill stood …

LAHORE: The Orange Line Metro Train, the country’ first electricity-run mass transit project, was inaugurated on Sunday with the ruling PTI and opposition squabbling over the credit. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Chinese Consul General Long Dingbin and Transport Minister Jahanzeb Khan Khichi jointly inaugurated the project by pressing a button, allowing Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) to start …