FPCCI
hints at reviewing trade ties with India:
The Federation of
Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Thursday said it would
consider suspending trade with India if the situation did not improve
soon.FPCCI president Abdul Rauf Alam said that Pakistan had no compulsions of
any sort to continue business and trade relations with India under the current
hostile conditions. The entire Pakistani business community, he said, was
united to take any decision and given the tense situation in the region, it was
not possible to continue trade relations with India.He pointed out the role of
the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said that it left them with no
choice but to promote trade relations with ECO and D-8 countries.
Power
regulator directs Discos to refund Rs20bn to consumers:
The power regulator
on Thursday directed electricity distribution companies of formerly Wapda to
refund Rs20 billion to consumers for overcharging them by 43 per cent in
September.At a public hearing presided over by its chairman Brig (retired)
Tariq Sadozai, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra)
concluded that the power companies should refund Rs2.77 per unit (kwh) to
consumers in the billing month of November to pass on the impact of lower
international oil prices.
ADB
offers $100m for Balochistan water projects:
Asian Development
Bank (ADB) has shown interest to provide financing for the construction of two
watersheds in Zhob and Mola to boost agriculture and irrigation in these
areas.ADB Director Environment Natural Resources Division and West Department
Akmal Siddiq made this offer in a meeting with Chief Minister Balochistan
Sanullah Zehri on Thursday.The total cost of the project will be around $115
million and ADB will provide $100m over a period of 25 years with easy terms
and condition under soft-loan while the rest of the money will be provided by
the Balochistan government.ADB representative Akmal Siddiq said that under the
proposed project many small schemes like construction of small dams, water
channels and flood protection infrastructures will also be developed. There
were also talks of introducing a drip-irrigation system in Balochistan which is
very successful in areas where water scarcity is a big issue.
6-8
hours loadshedding govt’s policy
National Electric
Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Chairman Tariq Sadozai Thursday expressed
serious concerns over deliberate power loadshedding by National Transmission
& Despatch Company (NTDC) and said that 49 percent of power plants were not
operated during the month of September.“Since the capacity is available, why
did the government not utilised it and why the consumers are teased for not
giving them hours’ long power,” he questioned, while presiding over a public
hearing on fuel price adjustment for the month of September 2016.During the
hearing the authority accorded Rs2.77 per unit reduction in electricity tariff
for Ex-Wapda distribution companies for September 2016 under the monthly fuel
price adjustment to pass on the benefits of the ‘cheaper cost of fuel for power
generation’ to the domestic power consumers.The decision will have a cumulative
impact of around Rs20 billion on the consumers bills.In a public hearing on the
petition filed by the Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA), he said that the
distribution companies had charged Rs6.4326 per unit on account of fuel cost to
consumers in September but the actual fuel cost was significantly lower.
Govt
rejects Protection of Economic Reforms Bill 2016:
The government on
Thursday opposed the opposition party’s “the Protection of Economic Reforms
(Amendment) Bill 2016”, by saying no one could transfer capital abroad without
approval of the relevant authorities.The Senate Standing Committee of Finance
and Revenue has discussed the Senator Saleem Mandviwalla’s Bill to withdraw
unprecedented immunities enjoyed by foreign currency account holders.The Bill
is supposed to review all the existing laws that allowed people to transfer
money abroad and evade taxes.The proposed amendments have taken care of genuine
foreign currency account holders and are seeking to cut the benefits of only
those who are transferring billions of dollars abroad without any
check.Mandviwalla said that FBR and SBP are giving different statements on this
issue.According to the FBR, he said, there is no bar on transferring capital to
the other countries.While, the SBP believed that FBR has to investigate the
foreign currency account, he added.
Contribution
of telecom to kitty up:
Telecom contribution
to national exchequer has increased from Rs126.3 billion last year to Rs157.8
billion in 2015-16.faAccording to PTA officials, overall government collections
including GST were decreased but there could be a number of factors behind this
decline.For example, the federal government and the Punjab government have
exempted GST on internet/data services, whereas the Sindh government is
charging reduced rate on internet/data services.Resultantly, officials claimed,
the share of tax-exempted data revenue in the total telecom revenues increased
to 29 percent in 2015-16 as compared to 19.3 percent in 2013-14.
Industrial
projects along CPEC: ICBC willing to provide finances:
Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has shown its willingness to support Pakistan
in boosting its industrial growth, under the China-Pakistan Economic corridor's
package. The Bank's officials said here on Thursday that the Bank has decided
to provide financial support in undertaking industry-related projects in
Pakistan and other regional countries.The government of China encouraged the
Bank to invest in Pakistan for making the CPEC successful that is a major and
pilot project one road, one belt. According to the officials, the Bank has also
started a new round of high-level opening-up, in the background of the Silk
Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives.
Reserves
fall 0.5pc:
The liquid foreign
exchange reserves amounted to $24.3 billion on Oct 21, down 0.5 per cent from a
week ago, the SBP announced on Thursday. SBP’s liquid foreign exchange reserves
decreased $135 million whereas its liquid foreign exchange reserves declined
$141m to $19.3bn during the week. The SBP made payments of $137m on account of
external debt servicing and other official payments during the week.
Government
makes fresh borrowing of $1.8 billion:
The federal
government took $1.8 billion in fresh foreign loans over the past three months
including $900 million from commercial banks in an effort to keep foreign
currency reserves at historic highs amid growing external debt repayments.
Pakistan’s all-weather friend China also came to its rescue and provided $700
million for 10 days so that the country could meet its external obligations
without taking a significant hit on the foreign currency reserves. China
Development Bank extended the $700-million loan.
Police
arrest scores of PTI workers at youth convention, Imran calls for countrywide
protests:
Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan on Thursday gave a call for countrywide
protests for October 27 after Islamabad police stormed PTI’s youth convention
in Islamabad and arrested scores of party activists. Imran, while addressing a
press conference following the arrests of his workers, said his workers and and
the planned sit-in on November 2 was planned to be peaceful.
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