Business

ISLAMABAD: As the government struggles to translate memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) of thermal and renewable power plants for tariff discounts into contracts, sponsors of hydropower power plants (HPPs) have declined to revise old agreements with the government. A senior government official told Dawn that sponsors of HPPs had three to four sessions with the IPPs negotiations committee …

The 1985 “Qamar-ul Islam” Taxation Reforms Commission (to which my London School of Economics colleague, Lord Stern, and I had the privilege of giving evidence) proposed enhancing the tax/GDP ratio from around 14 per cent to 20pc, to ensure economic independence, laying the basis for sustainable growth while reducing corruption in the then Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and the …

KARACHI: Onions from Iran and Afghanistan have been finding their way into local markets for the last 10 days to bridge demand and supply gap following reports of crop damage in Sindh and Balochistan due to devastating rains. However, consumers did not get any price relief as retailers are charging Rs10 per kg extra on both the imported varieties ranging …

KARACHI: With the passage of anti-money laundering bill unlicensed money changers disappeared from the markets which increased the counter selling of US dollars by 30 to 40 per cent, currency dealers said on Saturday. They said that since the move started for the passage of the bills against the money laundering, the illegal currencies traders went underground. The currency dealers said the …

AMID growing ‘crude’ concerns, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opec+) are preferring to keep their cards to the chest. After their virtual meeting last Thursday, the Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman underlined, ‘Opec+ would take a pro-active and pre-emptive stance in addressing oil market challenges’. Quoting a source, Reuters is confirming the Opec+ may also hold …

Despite witnessing great traction since the coronavirus outbreak, edtech in Pakistan is becoming a boring (and unimaginative) space with most players — incumbent or new — offering some variation of either learning management system, marketplace or content. Beyond these three areas, not many solutions exist and that’s a gap Anthive is trying to change. Anthive.co is a Karachi-based startup digitising …

ISLAMABAD: Of the total 2.743 million individual taxpayers, around 1.004m or 36.6 per cent taxpayers paid no income tax in the tax year 2018, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data showed. Even though all of these individuals filed their income tax returns, they fall under the non-tax bracket where their declared annual incomes are less than Rs400,000. In the …

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government on Friday disagreed with the federal government on the proposal to procure wheat through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) at Rs1,900 per 40kg. Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had endorsed and agreed to procure 0.150 million metric tonnes each through the TCP on terms, conditions and the cost of wheat at Rs1,910 per 40kg. The Economic …

ISLAMABAD: At a time when the government is busy in introducing reforms in tax machinery, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has picked as many as 12,553 cases of income tax, sales tax and federal excise duty (FED) for audit through electronic balloting. Last year, 14,154 cases were selected for audit while in the previous year the number was 44,868. …

ISLAMABAD: ‘Human Capital Index’, a new analysis published by the World Bank, says that the Covid-19 pandemic has threatened hard-won gains in health and education sectors over the past decade, especially in poor countries. Investments in human capital — the knowledge, skills and health that people accumulate over their lives — are keys to unlocking a child’s potential and to improving economic …