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ISLAMABAD: The country has seen a massive 36.3 per cent inflation since the present government came to power in 2008, with prices of two basic commodities, wheat flour and sugar, rising by 83 and 168 per cent, respectively.
According to official figures, the price of flour which was Rs16.41 per kg on Feb 21, 2008, shot [...]
ISLAMABAD: With its receivables rising beyond Rs105 billion, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) needs at least Rs57 billion between now and April 28 to avoid default on international payments for oil imports and ensure smooth oil supplies in the country.
“We have been forced to cut down oil imports and are inviting much lower tenders than usual [...]
ISLAMABAD: The top guns of the PPP government have made a confession before the National Assembly Secretariat about their failure to recover a mind boggling Rs 7 billion in fines and penalties from eight powerful cartels after 50 sugar barons, 20 cement tycoons, eight banks, five cellular phone companies, energy tycoons and stock exchanges of [...]
ISLAMABAD: Marked by over Rs93 billion higher grants for security-related spending, Pakistan’s current expenditure rose by more than 15 per cent and the budget deficit by about 62 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year.
According to provisional data on half-yearly (July-Dec) budgetary operations released by the finance ministry, the government’s current [...]
ISLAMABAD: Over $400 million in reimbursement claims by Pakistan under Coalition Support Fund (CSF) for 2008 have been rejected by the United States because of new guidelines requiring ‘enhanced oversight and accountability’.
Total claims for 2008 were $1.4 billion, but Pakistan got $997 million in reimbursement, whereas the remaining claims were disallowed on grounds of “inadequate [...]
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration sent lawmakers a plan for $1.45 billion in aid for Pakistan this year, funding water, energy and other projects as well as a media campaign to counter extremist views.
The 2010 spending plan, obtained by Reuters, was sent to lawmakers late on Thursday as part of the US administration’s obligation to consult [...]
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged wealthy Pakistanis to pay a larger share of taxes to reduce their country’s dependence on foreign aid.
In a testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the top US diplomat reminded rich Pakistanis that they had a duty to enable their government to fund schools and hospitals [...]
LAHORE: The City District Government, Lahore, has abandoned work on first-of-its-kind Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant in the provincial capital as the majority of foreign investors have left the country due to the current wave of terrorism.
Sources said the project, which was devised one-and-a-half years back, was one of the CDGL’s mega projects and its [...]
KARACHI: The capital gains tax on stock trading would be levied from July 1 at 10 per cent for holding of less than six months and at 7.5 per cent where an investor retains securities beyond six months and up to a year.
The tax is to be applicable on the purchase of shares after the [...]
KARACHI: Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Tuesday he was stepping down to focus on his private business interests.
Tarin’s resignation (as aleady reported earlier) is not expected to destabilise the government but international donors will be keen to see a respected minister appointed in his place.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani accepted Tarin’s resignation [...]
LAHORE: Hamara to wazir-e-khazana ja raha hay (Our finance minister is leaving), Prime Minister Gilani was caught telling former finance minister Ishaq Dar, moments before the start of Monday’s press conference after his meeting with PML-N leaders.
Perhaps not realising that at least one among the array of microphones on the table in front of him [...]
TIANJIN: Chinese commuters in their millions are turning to electric bicycles — hailed as the environmentally-friendly future of personal transport in the country’s teeming cities.
Up to 120 million e-bikes are estimated to be on the roads in China, making them already the top alternative to cars and public transport, according to recent figures published by [...]
ISLAMABAD: The United States will begin disbursement of deferred Coalition Support Fund (CSF) payments to Pakistan next week, releasing $349 million in the first phase.
US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told journalists here on Thursday that the CSF money “unfortunately held back” because of accounting reasons would be partially released next week. [...]
ISLAMABAD: Electricity rates are likely to go up by another 15 per cent or Rs1.20 per unit (kwh) on March 1, mainly because of uneconomic use of fuel and resultant rise in generation cost.
“This will be the single highest increase in power tariff in more than 13-year history of Nepra (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority)” [...]
KARACHI: Pakistan’s net foreign investment suffered a sharp decline during the current fiscal year, and massive fall was noticed even in most attractive sectors, like telecommunications and financial business.
The State Bank of Pakistan reported on Monday that net foreign investment fell by 34.4 per cent to $1.466 billion during July-January against $2.234 billion in the [...]
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday directed provinces to ensure that sugar mills maintain 15 to 20 per cent stock and asked the interior ministry to check sugar smuggling at Khokhrapar, Torkham and Chaman borders to avert its shortage in future.
The Sugar Advisory Board (SAB), in a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Industries and [...]
ISLAMABAD: The government would bring new services into the tax net in next year’s budget and generate meaningful revenue contribution from property, agricultural sector and stock markets, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Friday.
During a meeting with a task force on private sector development, the minister said the government would convert capital value tax on [...]
ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly was surprised and shocked on Friday when it was told that officials of the Federal Board of Revenue had exonerated one of their colleagues found involved in an inadmissible tax refund of Rs140 million to a private pay-phone company, keeping in the dark both the Prime [...]
Measuring inflation is a tricky job. Controlling it is trickier. No government can come up with inflation data that is believable for all. And inflation cannot be checked effectively if the mechanism used for measuring it suffers from structural flaws.
But efforts must be made to record changes in the actual cost of living of various [...]
ISLAMABAD: The GDF Suez of France won on Tuesday a contract for the import of 3.75 million tons per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for up to 20 years, but efforts continued to allow its competitor Shell to import an additional 2.5 million tons for the same period.
The price of LNG to be imported [...]
4 Time champions Pakistan ends Hockey World Cup ranked last
Razzaq & Salman running for captainship in T20 World Cup
Pakistan sees a massive 36.3 per cent rise in inflation
Oil crisis awaits as PSO faces default for providing cheap fuel to US-led NATO froces in Afghanistan
PCB spins again: Yousuf, Younis may be considered for selection
Muhammad Yousuf & Younis Khan suspended indefinitely from playing cricket, others heavily fined
Eight powerful cartels refuse to cough up Rs 7 billion in fines and penalties
