Business

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) retired Justice Javed Iqbal expressed satisfaction over a monthly report of a Combined Investigation Team (CIT) formed to investigate the sugar scam on Wednesday and asked the officials concerned to complete the investigation in an impartial, transparent, and professional manner soon. Reviewing the progress made by CIT in their probe, the NAB chief asked …

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday won the right to impose tariffs on $4 billion of US goods in retaliation against subsidies for planemaker Boeing, deepening a record trade spat that has already prompted Washington to slap duties on EU imports. The World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff award, which confirms a decision first reported by Reuters on Sept 30, threatens to intensify …

se KARACHI: Stocks stood battered for the second successive day as the KSE-100 index fell 203.14 points, or 0.51 per cent, to close at 40,006.68 on Tuesday. The uncertainty over the political scene kept investors away from the market. “As they say on Wall Street, uncertainty is worse than bad news for the market,” said a participant. Investors are happy …

hibl ISLAMABAD: With just two days left before the opposition’s anti-government public gathering in Gujranwala, the federal cabinet on Tuesday approved a comprehensive plan to overcome price hike and shortage of food items. The meeting also approved a proposal for setting up of camp offices of the president and prime minister. “Today, for the first time it felt that steps being taken …

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday forecast a subdued economic growth rate for Pakistan coupled with elevated rate of inflation and rising unemployment during the current fiscal year. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO) 2020, the IMF projected Pakistan’s growth rate at one per cent, average inflation rate at 8.8pc, current account deficit at 2.5pc of GDP (gross domestic …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday disclosed that more than Rs1.856 trillion revenue has been stuck for years due to litigation in various courts, resulting in difficult financial conditions for the country. “The appellant tribunals have been non-functional for two years,” said FBR Chairman Mohammad Javed Ghani while testifying before the Public Accounts Committee of parliament, adding …

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Energy, Power Division, on Monday expressed serious reservations on amendments proposed for the Nepra Act for providing vague procedures for imposition of surcharges on power rates. The committee, led by Chaudhry Salik Hussain, took up for discussion “The regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2020” commonly known as …

ISLAMABAD: The government has reconstituted a high-level committee for implementation of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with independent power producers (IPPs) at the earliest. According to a notification issued by the power division, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has replaced Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan as head of the committee while Tabish …

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday announced that for the first time all individuals who will be constructing or buying a new house can avail bank financing at subsidised and affordable markup rates. This facility will be provided with the administrative support of SBP as executing partner with Government of Pakistan and Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority …

KARACHI: Provisional data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday showed total central government debt rising by Rs3.4189 trillion in the period ending August 2020 compared to the same period last year. But since June the increase is more nominal, coming in at Rs553.6 billion, which suggests that the rapid pace of debt accumulation of the previous …