FINANCIAL UPDATES

SECP enhances efforts to fight against terror financing

2018-08-30T20:56:00.002+05:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has intensified efforts to combat terror financing and money laundering, a statement said on Thursday.

On the directive of Chairman Shaukat Hussain, the SECP has issued Circular No 16 of 2018, with a view to maintaining a register of ultimate beneficial ownership.

This circular has been issued to all companies, making them responsible to comply with Section 453 of the Companies Act

Th circular has directed all the companies having legal persons as their members/shareholders to obtain and maintain up-to-date information relating to their ultimate beneficial owners, i.e. natural persons who ultimately own or control the company through direct or indirect ownership of not less than 10 percent shares, voting rights, ownership or controlling interest in that company.
Companies shall obtain the ultimate beneficial ownership information from their members, and also ensure to maintain and update this information in a register of beneficial ownership.

Theinformation is required to be obtained and maintained irrespective of the number of levels of ownership pattern, until the natural person exercising ultimate ownership or control and lying at the end of the ownership chain, is revealed.

The minimum fields of information required to be by the companies have been specified through the circular. In case no natural persons are identified after having exhausted all possible means, or there is any doubt that the persons identified are the beneficial owners, there shall be entered in the register of beneficial ownership the names of the natural person(s) who hold the position of senior managing official(s) of the company.

This circular has been issued in pursuance of making Pakistan compliant with 40 recommendations, which serve as international standards for combating ML/TF. Pakistan is a member of APG-a FATF Styled Regional Body (FSRB) and is required to adopt FATF standards as per membership obligations, and also to comply with the UN resolution.

49 bank accounts under radar of FBR

2018-08-15T09:40:00.001+05:00

Federal Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is set to tighten noose around 49 million bank depositors in order to find out new taxpayers.

Sources told that FBR detected 49 million banks accounts which are being used for business activities but they their account holders are still out of tax net.

It is worth mentioning that at present total return filers are only 1.5 million out of country’s population of 207 million people.

The FBR sources said that the federal tax authority was also considering to approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan for vacating stays in such cases.

The FBR’s move was result of latest probe into fake bank accounts that was initiated by federal investigation agency.

The sources said that the bank and financial institutions are paying withholding tax on the basis of deduction but they are not allowing access and providing details of their account holders.

The deposit back of banking industry has increased massively by 9.01 percent to staggering Rs13.06 trillion by June 30, 2018 as compared with Rs11.98 trillion on the same day a year ago.

Pakistan takes over PRSS-1

2018-08-14T22:11:00.001+05:00

Inauguration Ceremony of Ground Control Stations and Taking over Control of Pakistan’s First Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS-1).

Pakistan’s first Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS-1) and Pakistan’s indigenous Technology Evaluation Satellite (PakTES-1A) were successfully launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China on 9th of July 2018. After the successful tests in the orbit, the satellites are fully operational and today, the control of PRSS-1 Satellite has been successfully transferred to Ground Control Stations in Pakistan.

The President and Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan have appreciated the efforts of SUPARCO’s engineers and scientists in achieving a yet another milestone in the space domain, coinciding this feat with Pakistan’s 71st Independence Day. The Honourable President and Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan have also expressed the hopes that the launching and operationalization of these satellites will add to the confidence of our space engineers and related technical personnel, and the services rendered by these would be instrumental in improving socio-economic development of the Country.

Pakistani Nation is rightly proud to attain this milestone; entering the league of nations owning and operating the remote sensing satellites.

Trade activities recede in July

2018-08-13T16:29:00.000+05:00

By Ishfaq Mughal

Islamabad The trade activities remained slow due to political situation in the country during last month. Exports surged by 1.17 percent and imports went up by 0.60 percent in July as against correspondent period of last fiscal year, said Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

The trade deficit for the first month of current fiscal year was registered $3.19 billion which is 0.31 percent higher from July 2017, according to the PBS.

PBS data showed that the export surged by 1.17 percent to $1.64 billion in July 2018 as compared with $1.62 billion in the corresponding month of the last year. The imports was increased nominally by 0.6 percent to $4.83 billion in the first month of current fiscal year as compared with $4.81 billion in the corresponding period of the last year.

Thus, the trade deficit stood at $3.19 billion in July 2018 as compared with the deficit of $3.18 billion in July 2017.

According to the PBS's data, exports decreased by 13 percent and imports down by 15 percent in July as compared with June 2018.

گزشتہ ہفتے 17اشیا مہنگی ہو گئیں، ادارہ شماریات

2018-08-13T13:38:00.004+05:00

ملک میں مہنگائی کاطوفان برقرارہے۔گزشتہ ایک ہفتے کے دوران سترہ اشیائے ضروریہ کی قیمتوں میں اضافہ ہواہے۔سب سے زیادہ ٹماٹر کی قیمت مزیدچودہ روپے فی کلوبڑھ گئی جبکہ ایل پی جی سلنڈر، چینی اوردالیں بھی مہنگی ہوئی ہیں

ادارہ شماریات کے مطابق گزشتہ ایک ہفتے کے دوران سترہ اشیا کی قیمتوں میں انیس فیصداضافہ جبکہ سات اشیا کی قیمتوں میں نوفیصد تک کمی ریکارڈ کی گئی ہے۔ گزشتہ ہفتے جن اشیا کی قیمتوں میں اضافہ ہواان میں سب سے زیادہ ٹماٹر کی قیمت اوسطاً سترروپے فی کلوسے بڑھ کرچوراسی روپے تک پہنچ گئی۔

اس دوران ایل پی جی سلنڈرایک ہزارتین سواڑسٹھ روپے سے بڑھ کرایک ہزار چار سو سینتالیس روپے تک پہنچ گئی۔ چینی، گھی، دال چنا، دال مسور، انڈے، گڑ، سرخ مرچ، چاول، آٹا، گندم، اورپکا ہواگوشت بھی مہنگے ہوئے۔

ادارہ شماریات کے مطابق جن سات اشیا کی قیمتوں میں کمی ہوئی ہے ان میں مرغی ایک سوسینتیس روپے سے کم ہو کرایک سوپچیس روپے تک پہنچ گئی۔ اس کے علاوہ آلو، پیاز، دال مونگ، دال ماش اور سرسوں کے تیل کی قیمتوں میں بھی کمی ہوئی ہے۔

ادارہ شماریات کے مطابق گزشتہ ہفتے مہنگائی کاسب سے زیادہ بوجھ غریب ترین طبقے پر پڑاہے۔

SECP revamps REIT Regulations, 2015

2018-08-13T13:34:00.003+05:00

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has introduced changes to the regulatory regime for real estate investment trusts for promoting investment in real estate through capital market.

It may be recalled that the regulatory framework for REITs was introduced in 2008. In 2010 and 2015, the framework was revised whereby some of the requirements such as capital of REIT management company (RMC), size of REIT scheme and units to be held by a single investor were relaxed, to encourage launch of REIT schemes. In spite of these improvements, only one REIT scheme was launched because, among other factors, the requirements for setting up a REIT scheme were considered stringent by the industry.

New amendments have been proposed on the basis of feedback and suggestions received from all the stakeholders, including RMCs, Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan, Central Depository Company, lawyers and vaulers.

The amendments, among other things, envisage greater autonomy for the RMCs, enriched role of trustees, segregation of documentary requirements for developmental and rental REITs, permission to borrow against REIT assets, acquisition of commercially viable properties and permission to raise funds from investors before acquisition of property.

Further, a regulatory framework has been provided for disclosure of value of target property and basis of management fee to be charged to a REIT scheme. An RMC will have to refund money to IPO investors if property is not acquired within the specified time. The proposed amendments address all major concerns of the industry and also provide safeguards to protect interests of investors.

The draft amendments have been placed on the SECP’s website for comments of the public as well as parties that are likely to be affected by the amendments. Views if any, received within 14 days of the publishing of the draft amendments will be given due consideration by the SECP.

FBR denies underestimation of tax liabilities

2017-08-27T19:04:00.001+05:00

Federal Board of Revenue has denied a news report appearing in a section of the press claiming that FBR’s online system underestimates tax liabilities.

FBR categorically denies such news as manual calculation made by the assessing officer in the body of manually typed order was not in accordance with the charging provision of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. The element of fixed tax/minimum tax as well as PTR was not looked into properly. On the other hand, the calculations made by the system are based on business rules that have been properly framed after taking all relevant legal precision.

Regional Tax Office-III Karachi has duly been directed to instruct the assessing officer(S) to use the facility of online system despite using manual tax calculations, erroneously.

Pakistan lifts sanctions on Iran

2016-02-20T12:55:00.000+05:00

Government of Pakistan has lifted the sanctions on Iran pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2231. The modalities for lifting of sanctions were finalized in an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Minister of Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here.

The formal notification issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following the meeting, will revive economic and commercial relationship between Pakistan and Iran, including the areas of trade, investment, technology, banking, finance, energy.

All previous notifications giving effect to UN Security Council sanctions on Iran stand repealed with the issuance of the new notification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in keeping with the Security Council resolution 2231.

Pakistan had welcomed the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) agreed between Iran and European Union, People’ Republic of China, United States, Germany France, United Kingdom and the Russian Federation. It appreciates the steps taken by Iran for the implementation of the JCPOA.

With the lifting of restrictions, economic and trade relations between the two neighbourly countries will receive a new boost. It will enable the two countries to fully reinvigorate various bilateral and multilateral arrangements for promoting investments and cooperation in across all sectors including banking, finance, industry and energy

SECP witnessed 25 % growth in company registration in 6 months

2016-01-14T19:31:00.001+05:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), during the first half of current fiscal year (2015-16) registered 2,747 new companies, indicating a growth of 25 % as compared to the corresponding period last year.

The growing trend in company registration is a sign of enhanced investors’ confidence on SECP’s policies and procedures.

During July –Dec 2015, around 90 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while 7 percent companies were registered as single member companies. Three percent of the companies secured registration as public unlisted, associations’ not-for-profit, trade organizations and foreign companies.

The trading sector took lead in incorporations by registering 357 companies, followed by services with 349, information technology with 244, construction with 225, tourism with 204, power generation with 97, communications with 87, education with 83, corporate agricultural farming with 78, broadcasting and telecasting and food and beverages with 75 each, pharmaceutical with 72, engineering with 70 and 731 companies registered in other sectors. Moreover, 25 foreign companies were also registered by CROs in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.

Moreover, foreign investment has also been observed in 154 new companies. These companies received investors from Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Burma, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, UK, Ukraine and the US.

Furthermore, in December 2015, the SECP registered 531 new companies. Eighty Seven percent of the companies were registered as private limited companies, 9 percent companies were registered as single member companies. Four percent of the companies were registered as public unlisted, associations’ not-for-profit and foreign companies. Incorporations during December 2015 include 7 foreign companies and foreign investment in 35 local companies.

The SECP is continuously working to ensure hassle free provision of services to the stakeholders/corporate sector and hoped that the reforms in company registration will result in significant growth in the corporate sector portfolio.

July-Dec: Pakistani workers remitted $9.73 bln

2016-01-11T17:31:00.000+05:00

Overseas Pakistani workers remitted US $ 9735.31 million in the first six months (July to December) of current fiscal year, showing a growth of 6.26 % compared with US $ 9162.16 million received during the same period in the preceding year.

During December 2015, the inflow of workers’ remittances amounted to US $1637.06 million, which is 2.84 % higher than that in November 2015 and 0.18% higher than that in December 2014. The country wise details for the month of December 2015 show that inflows from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and EU countries amounted to US $503.2 million, US $341.55 million, US $212.1 million, US $ 193.72 million, US $213.29 million and US $37.14 million respectively compared with the inflow of US $ 499.09 million, US $355.24 million, US $256.08 million, US $198.72 million, US $ 191.48 million and US $30.57 million respectively in December 2014.

Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during December 2015 amounted to US $136.06 million together as against US $102.88 million received in December 2014.

UBG asks Govt to reform SME sector

2016-01-08T14:25:00.002+05:00

The United Business Group (UBG) of the FPCCI of Friday said Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can double the national GDP is proper attention is paid to this critical sector.

Comprehensive and holistic SME strategy, special incentives, improved focus, better laws, improved regulation, loans and settling energy issue can help SMEs which can turnaround economy as experienced in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and other countries, it said.

Government has done a commendable job by providing financial support to the falling SMEs in the troubled areas but a lot is to be done, said Chairman UBG Iftikhar Ali Malik, Patron-in-Chief SM Muneer and Secretary General Zubair Tufail.

In a statement issued here today, they said that SME sector has 40 percent share in the GDP, 30 percent share in exports and it employees 80 percent workforce outside agriculture therefore it cannot be ignored.

The UBG leaders said that 3.2 million SMEs are registered in Pakistan while a lot more are unregistered which deprive them from many benefits.

Law and order, energy crisis, lack of regulatory support, outdated laws, lack of market information and latest trends and want skilled labour as well as finances are the main reasons behind lackluster performance of SME sector.

SBP pushed banks to boost SME financing has improved the situation to some extent but it is not enough, they said.

Around 96 percent businesses in Pakistan falls under the category of SMEs therefore the regulator must push the banks to revisit policy of ignoring SMEs and chalk out an implementable plan to develop this critical sector to reduce poverty and unemployment.

This sector has the potential to become the engine for growth and propel the national economy into the world’s top 25 economic powers which requires a comprehensive and holistic SME strategy.

Pakistani rice will be available in Indonesia, agreement signed

2016-01-08T13:56:00.004+05:00

Pakistan has concluded an agreement with Indonesia to export one million metric ton of rice estimated at around US $ 400 million over four years. The agreement for export of rice will be implemented by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and Indonesian Government’s organization BULOG (State Logistic Agency). TCP has finalized first tender of 15,000 metric tons of rice export to Indonesia which includes 5,000 metric tons of basmati rice and 10,000 metric tonnes of non-basmati rice. The finalization of this tender has a positive effect the rice prices in Pakistan and the prices have started to stabilize.

Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan said that the intensive trade diplomacy of Ministry of Commerce has resulted in securing a large export market for Pakistani rice for 2016-2019. He said that the export order of one million metric ton will end the uncertainty prevailing in the domestic rice market and lucrative prices will prove to be an impetus for growers to expand rice production in coming years.

Mr. Dastgir said that the Ministry of Commerce in collaboration with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research will bring in new legislation for high-yielding varieties of rice and law for Geographical Indication for Pakistani basmati rice.

Pakistan is the first country out of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to have rice export agreement with Indonesia. Pak-Indonesia trade rose 215% to $2.2 billion in 2014 from $ 700 million in 2010 after the conclusion of Preferential Trade Agreement.

SECP registered seven book runners

2016-01-08T13:53:00.002+05:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered seven companies as book runners under the BookBuilding Regulations, 2015, promulgated in accordance with Securities Act 2015. All the seven registered book runners are corporate brokerage houses.

The recently introduced regulations inter alia prescribes the eligibility criteria, procedure and conditions for public offering including, procedure of bidding, appointment of a book runner, registration of book runner, registration of the eligible investors; duties and responsibilities of the issuer, the Offerer, the book runner and the designated institution i.e. the institution providing the book building system; procedure for making bids, time period for bidding, basis of allotment etc.

As per the BB Regulations, commercial banks, development finance institutions, and corporate brokerage house holding a valid license are eligible to seek registration for acting as book runner.

ADB okays $27b in 2015 for members countries

2016-01-08T13:51:00.001+05:00

Ishfaq A Mughal

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) operations—comprising approvals of loans and grants, technical assistance, and cofinancing—reached an all-time high of $27.15 billion in 2015, an increase of about 19% over the $22.89 billion in 2014, according to provisional figures released on Friday.

ADB’s approvals of loans and grants, sovereign (governments) and nonsovereign (primarily private sector), reached a record $16.58 billion—a 23% increase from 2014. Technical assistance amounted to $144 million and cofinancing increased by 13% to a record $10.43 billion in 2015.

Out of the $16.58 billion, sovereign loan and grant approvals increased by 21% to $13.95 billion in 2015. Nonsovereign approvals made a big leap from $1.92 billion in 2014 to $2.63 billion in 2015. In addition to a volume increase, ADB increased its allocation to the poorest countries to 40% of nonsovereign approvals. To expedite small nonsovereign transactions, ADB introduced a fast-track approval process. ADB is now making active use of local currency lending to the private sector and increased bond issuances in local currencies to support the lending.

Unless loans and grants are disbursed, they will have no impact on development. In 2015, total disbursements of loans and grants reached a record $12.34 billion, an increase of 21% over the previous year.

“Our record performance last year reflected strong and growing demand from the Asian and Pacific region,” ADB President Takehiko Nakao said. “Infrastructure and other development needs are huge and poverty remains pervasive despite the region’s robust growth performance.”

To help meet the increased demand for its operations, ADB Board of Governors last year unanimously endorsed the merger of ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund and its market-based ordinary capital resource balance sheet. With this path-breaking reform, ADB’s financing capacity (annual approvals of loans and grants) will dramatically increase up to $20 billion by 2020. ADB is well on track to achieve this scaling up.

Among ADB’s operational highlights last year were the quick response to natural disasters, especially the Nepal earthquake in April and the Vanuatu cyclone in March; and support for necessary fiscal measures of countries suffering from lower commodity prices and volatility in financial markets, such as Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

In 2015, ADB was among the first multilateral development banks to commit a sizable climate finance target. In late September, ADB announced it would double its annual climate financing to $6 billion by 2020, up from the current $3 billion. To support its climate work, ADB issued its first green bond. ADB approved its first policy-based loan in the People’s Republic of China to improve air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.

In order to help effectively mobilize financial resources and management skills from the private sector for infrastructure development, ADB established an Office of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). This office offered active transaction advisory services for PPP projects in the region such as the North-South Railway project in the Philippines.

ADB made further progress in streamlining procedures for country programing, project processing, and procurement. One example was the introduction of tailor-made procurement procedures specifically for small Pacific Island countries. ADB has been providing greater resources and delegating more authority to its 31 field offices to improve its responsiveness on the ground.

Last year, ADB operationalized seven sector groups such as energy and transport, and eight thematic groups such as governance and gender, which work across operations departments. This will strengthen ADB’s knowledge services and provide innovative solutions to client countries.

“As we approach our 50^th anniversary this year, we are committed to scaling up our operations, and achieving poverty reduction and sustainable development in the region,” Mr. Nakao said. “We will be a stronger, better, and faster bank by deepening our partnerships with member countries, other international financial institutions, and civil society.”

EAD holds Women’s Day Ceremony

2014-12-23T14:34:00.001+05:00

As directed by the Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the Economic Affairs Division here on Monday organized a special ceremony to commemorate the National Working Women’s Day.

In his message read out on the occasion, the Finance Minister said, “On National Working Day for Women, I would like to appreciate the efforts made by women for development and prosperity of the country and the nation. The role of women is now ever more imperative in all societies of the world”. The Minister said our Government is trying to ensure equal opportunities to women to excel in all fields of human endeavor. Our socio-economic development programs are designed in a way that women have equal representation in them and are also equal beneficiaries of these programs. PM youth Loan scheme and Qarz-e-Hasana scheme have equal provisions for women, the Minister added.

Earlier, Secretary EAD along with other participants cut a cake to mark the Day’s celebrations. He thanked all the guests for their active participation in the festivities. The participants among others included Ms Nargis Sethi, Ms Fauzia Saleem, Maleeha Lodhi, UN representatives and working women from different professions.

Agricultural credit disbursement surges to Rs 167.6 billion in first five months of FY15

2014-12-18T18:20:00.000+05:00

During fiscal year FY15 (Jul- Nov 2014) the banks have disbursed Rs 167.6 billion which is 33.5% of the overall annual target of Rs 500 billion and 42.7% higher than disbursement of Rs 117.4 billion made during the corresponding period last year. The outstanding portfolio of agri. loans has increased by Rs 36.0 billion i.e. from Rs 266.8 billion to Rs 302.8 billion at end November 2014 as compared to same period last year.

Amongst the major banks, MCB has achieved 52.5% of its annual target, UBL achieved 45.2%, HBL 40.9%, ABL 30.9% while NBP could achieve only 27.7% of its individual annual target. Under the specialized banks category, ZTBL disbursed Rs 15.7 billion or 17.5% against its target of Rs 90.0 billion while PPCBL disbursed Rs 2.1 billion i.e. 18.2% against its target of Rs 11.5 billion during the period under review.

Within Fifteen Domestic Private Banks, Bank Alfalah has achieved 47.8%, Faysal bank 47.7%, Summit bank 44.7%, Bank of Khyber 42.6%, NIB bank 36.7%, Silk bank 34.7 %, Bank Al Habib 32.9%, Soneri Bank 25.9%, Bank of Punjab 21.5% while Askari bank could achieve only 21% of their annual targets during Jul-Nov 2014, however Standard Chartered Bank has disbursed Rs 3.6 billion against its annual target of Rs 2.5 billion for 2014-15.

Under Microfinance category, seven Microfinance banks as a group has disbursed Rs 7.6 billion against their annual target of Rs 28.2 billion while under Islamic mode of financing, 4 Islamic banks collectively disbursed Rs 0.7 billion against their targets of Rs 2.3 billion to agri. borrowers.

ICCI hosts session on Export Controls and Pakistan Nuclear Policy

2014-12-16T16:28:00.003+05:00

The Strategic Studies Institute Islamabad (SSII) in collaboration with Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) organized an introductory session on Export Control and Pakistan’s Nuclear Policy. The purpose of the session was to create awareness in the business community about the laws related to export controls and nuclear policy of Pakistan.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Shireen Mazari, Director General, Strategic Studies Institute, Islamabad said that there was no coordination between the civil society and business community and everyone was working in isolated boxes. She stressed that was very important for business persons that they should be well informed of the laws dealing with the import/export of strategic technologies otherwise, they could land in trouble while conducting business transactions with foreign countries.

She said European countries have developed strong cooperation on nuclear energy and stressed that Pakistan and India should also develop cooperation for generating nuclear energy to overcome their energy shortage and give boost to economic activities. Such an arrangement will also lead to confidence building between the two countries.

She said the international nuclear systems like the Treaty on the Non-proliferation Nuclear Weapons (NPT) were highly discriminatory for countries like Pakistan while Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was well-balanced, but was not approved by the US Congress. She said the international power were working to weaken Islamic States to deter them from developing nuclear weapons while Indo-US nuclear deal was clear violation of NPT and a threat for Pakistan. She said Pakistan many times floated the idea of making South Asia a nuclear weapons free zone, but India always rejected such moves. She was of the view that nuclear weapons were a strong deterrence against aggression.

Mr. Khalid Banuri, Director General, Arms Control Disarmament Authority, Islamabad gave a detailed presentation on Export Controls and Pakistan’s Nuclear Policy. He said Pakistan has put in place a comprehensive institutional framework with the National Command Authority (NCA) at the apex for policy formulation, employment and development of strategic systems.

Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry thanked the SSCI and ACDA for organizing an informatory session for the benefit of business community and hoped that they would continue to organizing such events to create better awareness in the civil society about export controls and Pakistan’s nuclear policy dynamics

Namibia wants to enhance trade with Pakistan

2014-12-15T14:32:00.002+05:00

Ambassador of Namibia visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said that his country was keen to enhance trade with Pakistan on mutually beneficial grounds. He said Namibia was endowed with lot of mineral resources and Pakistani investors should explore it for investment and joint ventures.

He said that Namibia was a politically stable and peaceful country while the government was taking measures to establish conducive environment for business activities. He said many Chinese investors were already tapping Namibia for investment and it was the right time that Pakistan should also explore his country for finding out business opportunities.

He said Pakistan has the potential to invest in hospitality industry, tourism, agriculture, livestock and many other areas in Namibia as it was the second top tourists’ destination in the world after Singapore and added that Pakistan could get access to 14 countries of Southern Africa by promoting trade and economic relations with Namibia.

He said Namibia was facing shortage of skilled manpower especially doctors, engineers, technicians and nurses etc. and stressed that Pakistan should help his country in preparing well trained and skilled human resource. He said ICCI should consider sending a business delegation to Namibia and develop strong linkages with Namibian Chamber of Commerce & Industry establishing business partnership. He assured that Embassy of Namibia based in Beijing, China would extend full cooperation to facilitate Pakistani entrepreneurs in visiting his country.

Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry briefed the Ambassador of Namibia about economic potential of Pakistan. He said many Pakistan products including textiles, pharmaceuticals, leather, marble, food and other products could find good market in Namibia and stressed that both countries should encourage frequent exchange of business delegations to explore all potential areas of mutual cooperation.

He said Pakistan was focusing on non-traditional markets to improve its trade and exports and added that it would like to promote trade relations with Namibia in order to promote its exports to the whole region of Southern Africa. He said Pakistan could also cooperate with Namibia in its infrastructure development as it has good expertise and professionals in this field. He said ICCI would like to send its delegation to Namibia to interact with Namibian counterparts and identify areas of business collaborations.

Dar asks committee on sugar producers issues to finalize recommendations within three days

2014-12-15T14:31:00.003+05:00

Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar has given instructions to the newly constituted committee on issues facing sugar producers to have detailed deliberations on the problems faced by the sugar producers and formulate recommendations for consideration at the appropriate forum.

The Minister further directed the Committee to finalize its suggestions within three days in view of the difficulties faced by sugar millers.He said, the government watches for the interest of both the consumers and the producers while also attaching due importance to the sugarcane growers. A balance has to be maintained while formulating any proposal for alleviating the problems of the sugar millers, the Minister added.

The Minister, it may be mentioned ordered constitution of the said committee after meeting a high level delegation of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association at Lahore Saturday evening.

The committee comprises of senior representatives of the Ministry of National Food Security, Ministry of Commerce, FBR and the PSMA. The committee under instructions from the Minister is set to hold meetings from Monday.

EU Envoy calls Minister of Commerce

2014-12-11T18:47:00.001+05:00

Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that the Ministry of Commerce will coordinate with SMEDA and relevant provincial departments to bring the benefits of GSP Plus to small and medium enterprises so that the financial benefits of this scheme may be distributed evenly throughout Pakistan. The minister made these remarks while meeting with the Ambassador of European Union (EU) to Pakistan Mr. Lars-Gunnar Wigemark who called on the Minister in Islamabad.

He said that traditional export items of Pakistan like textile, leather, footwear and plastics have registered positive growth but the government is planning to bring the fruits of GSP Plus to new and emerging sectors by developing them through value addition. The growth in trade in the traditional sectors suggests that the initially large investors have benefitted from the Generalized System of Preference granted by EU but the government wants to broaden the scope of benefit by improving the standards of small exporters and manufacturers to the standards required by the of EU member countries.

To make the small and medium enterprises aware of the gains of GSP Plus, the Ministry of Commerce will launch seminars across the country in which private as well as public sector of the provinces will be invited. The Ministry will also hold sessions to make the people aware about the steps taken by the MoC and the Treaty Implementation Cell to bring in new legislations and upgrade the existing ones in federal and constituents units of Pakistan regarding the 27 conventions of EU on human rights. The Minister said that ‘we should cease this opportunity with both hands and the private sector should also take ownership of these issues by playing their role in not only inculcating international best practices amongst processes but also play the role of a catalyst in the social and economic development of our country.’

Pakistan’s inclusion in the EU GSP Plus scheme offers immense benefits in terms of increase in exports. It is heartening to know that initially the trade analysts had estimated an overall growth of almost 15% in Pakistan’s exports to EU but the growth in exports during the first eight months since the implementation of GSP Plus has been around 18 %. Sectors like articles of leather, ethanol, fresh and processed fruits also have the potential to take advantage of the duty free access and record healthy growths. The MoC will hold publicity affairs in the new markets of Eastern Europe and Scandinavian countries in which Pakistani products as well as unique Pakistani cultural brands will be exhibited to promote softer image of Pakistan.

The EU Ambassador praised rise in trade due to GSP Plus and admired the Government’s efforts regarding the legislative work on human rights. He said that the EU will continue with its trade diversification program in Pakistan and will work closely with the Government of Pakistan to achieve sustainable development across the country.

Authority appoves Rs105 per share of ABL

2014-12-11T17:34:00.001+05:00

The Cabinet Committee on Privatization in its meeting chaired by Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar here on Tuesday unanimously approved the floor price for divestment of GoP shares in ABL at the rate of Rs. 105/- per share.

The Privatization Commission Board, it may be added here met earlier today and considered the ABL pricing Benchmarks as presented by the LM & BR and recommended a Floor Price of Rs.105 per share to the CCOP which translates into a discount of Rs.9.69 per share to the closing price of Rs.113.69 on December 9, 2014, i.e. at a discount of approx 7.6% to the closing price of December 9, 2014.

The ‘Strike price’, i.e. price of ABL share determined/discovered on the basis of book-building, and at which price ABL share will be offered to successful bidders, will be determined after the completion of the Book-building exercise on Thursday December 11, 2014 at 1900 Hours and the same will be presented to the PC Board for consideration and approval. The decision/recommendations of the PC Board will subsequently be presented before the CCOP for consideration/approval.

Among others, Ministers for Information & Broadcasting, Pervaiz Rashid, Commerce, Khurram Dastgir, Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Chairman Privatization Commission, Muhammad Zubair, Secretary Finance, Dr. Waqar Masood and Advisor Finance Division, Rana Asad Amin attended the meeting.

Businessmen show concerns over rising trade deficit

2014-12-11T17:26:00.002+05:00

Businessmen in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry have shown great concerns over the rising trade deficit of the country and called upon the government to take urgent measures to facilitate the private sector in promoting trade and exports in order to overcome the trade deficit issue.

Addressing the meeting, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the trade deficit has surged to $ 10.45 billion during the first five months of the financial year 2014-15 showing an increase of over 34 percent in the same period of last year. He said this state of affairs indicates that our exports are not growing well and he urged the government to take all necessary steps to address the key issues of exporters like energy, lack of infrastructure development, bureaucratic hurdles and institutional rigidities etc. in order to facilitate them in improving the country’s trade and exports.

He said government has set annual exports target of $ 27 billion, but the record of first five-months of the current fiscal years shows average monthly exports growth of just $1.984 billion, which is unsatisfactory by all standards. He warned that if this low growth trend of exports persisted, achieving the stipulated exports target would become more difficult and this situation would put more pressure on the country’s balance of payment leading to further rise in fiscal deficit.

Shakeel Munir said that one good option to overcome rising trade deficit was to focus on strengthening inter-regional connectivity as it would create more business opportunities for Pakistan in the regional countries and help in enhancing trade regional.

He said government should also consider developing a comprehensive strategy to evolve the knowledge-based economy according to modern trends which would facilitate in enhancing trade with regional countries as well international world.

He said government should also provide necessary support to industry in improving production techniques, cutting down on wastages and should encourage clusters of small and medium size export units to bring down production cost as well as make exports globally competitive.

He said private sector should he helped in diversification of exports and producing high quality value added products, which would lead to taking a quantum leap in exports and reduce trade deficit.

FY14 was a better year for the Macro-economy, Central bank

2014-12-10T17:31:00.002+05:00

FY14 was a better year for the macro-economy, says the State Bank’s Annual Report on the State of the Economy for the year 2013-14 released on Wednesday.

According to the report the most notable developments were the tangible improvement in the country’s foreign exchange reserves; the unprecedented appreciation of the PKR in early-March; the reduction in the fiscal deficit; the lower than expected inflation rate; the improvement in private sector credit; and the relatively contained current account deficit.

'With the start of a new IMF program, external inflows from other international financial institutions (IFIs) also began after a gap of almost three years,’ the Report observes. This helped stem the gradual depletion of SBP’s foreign exchange reserves. Moreover, the US$ 1.5 billion inflow into Pakistan Development Fund (PDF) in February/March 2014, contributed in releasing the pent up inflows, which helped in stabilizing the PKR. The positive sentiments this generated, also instilled a view that the government was finally gearing up for a growth phase.

The SBP views the fiscal deficit at 5.5 percent of GDP was significantly lower than the FY14 target of 6.5 percent and when compared to trends in the past three years. In our view, said the Report, there was a concerted effort on the part of the government to contain expenditures and generate additional revenues, but the one-off factors like the inflow into the PDF and the government delay in paying off the circular debt in FY14 also played their role. Furthermore, the SBP views the public sector enterprises (PSEs) continue to be a fiscal burden on the federal government.

According to the Report, although inflation increased marginally in FY14 to 8.6 percent, it was significantly milder than SBP’s initial projections, due to several factors. First, global oil prices softened much more than expected. Second, although the weakness of the PKR in the first quarter had been anticipated, the subsequent appreciation and stabilization after March 2014 meant the overall weakness of the currency was much lower than projected. Third, the above target mobilization from the Eurobond and the successful divesture of UBL shares, coupled with a smaller underlying fiscal gap, sharply reduced government borrowing from the banking system (especially SBP). Fourth, the increase in electricity and gas tariff were smaller than initially expected. And finally, the primary source of inflation in Q1-FY14 (perishable food items), had subsided by December 2013.

The Report observed that as part of the stabilization program to reduce the twin deficits (fiscal and external), the easing monetary policy stance that started in mid-2011, was changed in September 2013. After two consecutive 50 bps increases, SBP held its benchmark rate for the remaining part of FY14. Although the market’s inflation outlook had eased significantly by early 2014, SBP opted to pursue a cautious monetary policy driven by concerns about the external sector, and possible pressure on the PKR.

‘This policy stance appears to be vindicated, as it managed to curb M2 growth to 12.5 percent (against 15.9 percent growth in FY13) and yet was able to support a significant increase in private sector credit growth last seen in FY08,’ says the Report. From the supply side, lower government borrowing from the banking system and healthy growth in deposits, created the space for commercial banks to lend productively; from the demand side, the optimism after the general elections in May 2013, created a conducive environment to borrow.

The key message in the external sector, as reported by the SBP, is that while the overall size of the external gap was manageable in FY14, financing it was quite challenging. At the start of the fiscal year, SBP’s foreign exchange reserves were consistently falling, not just because of the monthly current account deficits in the first quarter, but also because of significant IMF repayments that persisted till November 2013.

‘In the bigger picture, the stand out performer in the external sector were expatriate Pakistanis,’ the Report comments. What is more interesting however, is the fact that while Pakistan’s export revenues have remained almost stagnant since FY10, remittances have continued to grow strongly, said the Report. During FY14, the worker remittances were higher by US$ 1.9 billion than last year, exhibiting an increase of 13.8 percent. The strong growth in remittances partially offset the impact of a rise in trade deficit and other factors on the current account balance.

Pak China entrepreneurs explore business collaborations

2014-12-10T17:25:00.002+05:00

Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry hosted a dinner in honor of 8 members delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs of Anhui Province and Tianjin city. Mr. Ashfaq Hussain Chatha Vice President ICCI, Mr. Abdul Rauf, Chairman Founder Group, Mr. Munawar Mughal, Vice President FPCCI, former Presidents ICCI including Mr. Tariq Sadiq, Mian Akram Farid, Mian Shaukat Masud and a large number of local business community attended the dinner. The event provided a good opportunity to the businessmen of both countries to hold direct talks with each other and explore opportunities of business collaborations in areas of mutual interest.

Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Pakistan-China Economic Corridor and cooperation in many other areas were the hallmarks of stronger Pak-China friendship, which will continue to enhance cooperation in energy, trade and economic development.

He said it was encouraging that during the recent visit of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan to China, both countries signed 19 agreements and MoUs in various fields and hoped that implementations of these agreements would further strengthen the bilateral ties between Pakistan and China yielding highly beneficial results for both nations.

He stressed upon the need of frequent exchange of business delegations between the two countries to explore all potential areas of mutual cooperation. He was optimistic that the visit of Chinese entrepreneurs to Pakistan would help in developing new business partnerships in areas of common interest.

The Chinese entrepreneurs said that Pakistan and China were all-weather strategic and cooperative partners and urged that governments of both countries should facilitate their private sectors in translating these exemplary relations into thriving business relations.

They said they have come to Pakistan to explore opportunities of direct investments and business partnerships with local counterparts as consequent upon agreement on Pak-China Economic Corridor, they consider Pakistan a promising country for investment and joint ventures. They also thanked ICCI for extending warm hospitality and also invited Pakistani businessmen to visit China to explore opportunities of business expansion.

Finance Minister urges Ministries of Commerce, Food Security to devise strategy for agricultural exports to Russia

2014-12-10T17:19:00.000+05:00

Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar in a meeting here on Wednesday urged senior officials of Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Food Security and TDAP to urgently come up with plan for export of agricultural products to Russia aiming to enhance overall exports volume of the country and lessen current account deficit. He also called upon prospective exporters to take advantage of the ban imposed by the Russian government on agricultural imports from European countries.

Secretary, National Food Security and Secretary Commerce briefed the Minister on ways and means to enhance volume of agricultural trade with Russia and said they had already initiated measures to have export destinations in Russian for Pakistani food products. Finance Minister said Russia has been importing food items worth 35 billion dollars from around the world, particularly European countries and the ban on imports is creating a space of $16 billion which is there to captured and “certainly we would like to have a share in this available market”, he remarked. Pakistan has a sturdy agriculture sector which contributes 21% share to the GDP. We can provide incentives to this sector to further prosper if we find new export destinations for our products, Dar remarked.

Ishaq Dar directed the Ministries of Commerce and National Food Security to coordinate and prepare a comprehensive plan identifying exportable food products, keeping in view whether surplus quantities and requisite quarantine arrangements were available. The Minister observed that quality standards should be considered in advance to ensure the success of the export plan. He emphasized that exports enhancement should not come at the cost of shortage for domestic consumers. Secretary Food responded that the export plan would take due cognizance of this factor. He also mentioned about a detailed programme for growth in agriculture products with a view to enhancing exports. He said surge in agricultural exports will encourage investment in the agriculture sector. The Minister said the programme would be extended due consideration.

Ishaq Dar further directed the Ministries concerned to prepare for the World Food Exhibition 2015 in Moscow and also arrange single country exhibitions to allure foreign exporters. Secretary Commerce at this juncture informed the Minister that Commerce Ministry was organizing seminars in Lahore highlighting export opportunities to prospective businessmen and traders.