Pakistan Daily Economy Update - 25 April

Transcription

1. April 25 , 2019 KCCI - eBulletin FBR suo motu powers to collect sales tax scrapped The Lahore High Court has scrapped the suo motu powers of FBR to collect sales tax from the business community without registering them under the Sales Tax Act 1990 and Sales Tax Rules 2006. The petitioners argued that the business community of the country is fighting for justice against this suo motu powers of FBR for the last 9 years. The court held that the FBR could not collect sales tax from any business person without registering him. FBR will register the business community as taxpersons and then proceed for collection of sale tax under section 3 of Sale Tax Act 1990. The News. IMF folds package with more stringent conditions IMF has folded its bailout package with more stringent conditions as Islamabad has been conveyed to ensure guarantee from China that it will get rollover of $ 5-7Bn debt on account of deposits and commercial loans in order to meet its financing requirements during the program period. The IMF has put the condition to bridge financing gap through unidentified avenues as Islamabad got deposits from China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the range of $ 7Bn. The commercial lending from Chinese banks alone amounted to $ 5-5.5Bn. IMF had also sought details of Chinese loans in the name of ensuring transparency. The News. SC restores all taxes on mobile phone top-ups The Supreme Court has restored imposition of withholding tax, sales tax and service charges on pre-paid cellular scratch cards by vacating its earlier suspension order. During the hearing, the court was told that the state had suffered a loss of about PKR 90Bn since the issuance of the suspension order. At a previous hearing, the apex court was informed that about PKR 120Bn was earned by the Punjab govt, PKR 90Bn by the Sindh govt, PKR 36Bn by the Balochistan govt and PKR 55Bn by KP govt through such deductions annually. Meanwhile, the FBR has estimated collection of PKR 15Bn in the last 2 months of FY19. Dawn/ The News. Annual Turnover Tax: FBR urged to stop RTOs from sending notices KCCI president, Junaid Esmail Makda, has urged the FBR to issue necessary instructions to all RTOs for refraining from sending notice for the unjust annual turnover tax to members of Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) till the issue is resolved. Annual Turnover Tax, which was 0.1%, is inadvertently being charged at 1%. In a letter sent to FBR Member (Inland Revenue-Policy) Dr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar, KCCI president referred to a meeting between a KCCI delegation and FBR authorities in Islamabad in which this issue was thoroughly discussed with Member IR-Policy and other officials who assured to resolve the same in due course but no correction has been done so far in SRO333 (1)/2011. BR. Economic Indicators List of Indicators Date / Period Islamabad ready to fight its case before FATF, NA body told Pakistan will fight its case before the FATF on 15th May’19 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, besides undertaking diplomatic efforts for performance-based review of its robust compliance with global standards against money laundering and terror financing. This was the crux of an in-camera briefing to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Finance and Revenue. Pakistan has so far complied with 19 out of 28-29 FATF indicators and made progress on five indicators relating to legislative and administrative actions, the committee was told, according to informed sources. The govt was hoping to comply with remaining actions by Jun’19, some of them through the finance bill FY20. Dawn. Anti-money laundering drive: Govt. says won’t countenance harassment The govt. will be able to resolve the issue of FATF grey list, while serious action will be taken against the officials who are involved in harassment of general public as well as businessmen in the name of anti-money laundering drive. Chairman of the Finance Committee Faiz Ullah has said that the review report sent by the govt. to the FATF is satisfactory and if any concern is raised by the FATF on the \ amnesty scheme, it will be addressed. BR. Sindh govt. to set up grid company to improve supply The Sindh govt. has decided to set up a provincial grid company (PGC) in an effort to lay its own power transmission infrastructure. The transmission lines will connect a massive wind power corridor in Jhimpir, Thatta to the national grid station and supply power to K-Electric and other consumers in the province. The provincial govt. has applied to Nepra for a license. Germany-based firms have also expressed interest in establishing partnership with the Sindh govt. for investing in and building the power infrastructure. The govt. of Sindh has sanctioned PKR 50Mn for conducting a feasibility study for the development of an initial business model and carrying out interconnection and grid studies. Tribune. Date exports fall after Indian duties Parliamentarians have informed the National Assembly that exports of dates has declined sharply after India slapped a 200% duty on Pakistan’s exports after the Pulwama attack in Feb’19. Despite surplus local production; the govt is importing dates from Saudi Arabia and Iran. Indians consume Pakistani dry dates as ‘prasad’ during their religious proceedings. The govt. said that they are negotiating sale of dates with six different markets such as Morocco, France, Germany, the UK, USA, and Indonesia, which are the biggest buyers of dates. Dawn. Pakistan’s CAD lower than regional average, but more volatile: UNDP Despite Pakistan’s high current account deficit (CAD), it has remained below those of regional countries, however its volatility is higher than most states, says a report of United Nations Development Programs (UNDP). UNDP says that Pakistan’s CAD despite being higher than the regional average is still lower than that of Egypt (-3.7%), Morocco (-5.4%), Sri Lanka (-3.9%) and Turkey (-4.8%) while its volatility (2.5%) is higher than majority. Pakistan has consistently held lower foreign exchange reserves than its peers. Dawn. Value Change Daily PKR PKR 141.40 141.50 0.00% -0.14% 36,504 3.21 0.28% NM** -0.68% USD-Interbank USD-Open MKT 24-Apr KSE-100 index FIPI Pts. $ Mn Crude (AP'19) 24-Apr 24-Apr 24-Apr $/bbl 65.75 Gold (MA'19) 24-Apr $/oz 1,275.0 0.31% Gold (10g) Local 24-Apr PKR 58,813 -1.72% Silver (MA'19) 24-Apr $/oz 14.91 0.80% Cotton(KHI)-40 kg 24-Apr PKR 9,485 0.00% Kibor-6M 24-Apr % 11.25 -0.01% Forex Reserves 12-Apr FY19 $ Bn 16.20 WoW -5.99% Remittances Jul-Mar 19 $ Bn 16.10 8.74% Exports* Jul-Mar 19 $ Bn 17.08 0.11% Imports* Jul-Mar 19 $ Bn 40.76 -7.96% Trade Balance* Jul-Mar 19 $ Bn -23.67 13.03% -9.59 1.27 20.29% -39.17% 24-Apr YoY Jul-Mar 19 $ Bn $ Bn Jul-Mar 19 Jul-Feb 19 LSM Growth* % % Jul-Mar 19 Avg. CPI Discount Rate % Feb-19 WoW= week, NCCPL, KSE, Sources: KCCI Research, PMEX ** Not Meaningful on week; Current Account Foreign Direct Inv. ‘Trade deficit likely to shrink by $ 6Bn by end of current fiscal year’ Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razzak has said that trade deficit is likely to shrink by up to $ 6Bn by 30th Jun’19 to $ 31Bn from $ 37Bn as the govt., with its prudent policies, has already succeeded in reducing imports by $ 3.5Bn in 9MFY19. The Adviser pointed out 195 that country was facing a huge current account deficit and in order to reduce it the govt. was placing special focus on restrategising its 185 import and export policies. The News. Japan offers support to improve cargo inspection Japan has extended financial support of approximately $ 17Mn to The Economic and Social Development Program for improvement of cargo inspection capacity. The economic and social development grant would be utilised by FBR to install appropriate security inspection equipment, including X-ray machines and cargo scanners to maintain a high-security level at dry ports in order to meet the international standards. Daily Times. Unit -1.72 6.79 10.25 SBP, PBS* Major Currencies GBP, 24-Apr-19, 183.1 175 165 155 145 135 125 115 105 95 Apr-18 USD EUR, 24-Apr-19, 158.5 USD, 24-Apr-19, 141.6 Jul-18 GBP Oct-18 Jan-19 Apr-19 Source: KCCI Research ; Oanda.com EUR Quote of the Day "Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." Dale Carnegie Chart of the Day Startup Ecosystem Rankings - 2019 (City Wise as compared to 2017) Quingdao (1,028th from 871) 0.012 Sharjah (1,023rd from 838) 0.019 Islamabad (1,019th from 1,080) 0.022 Rawalpindi (1,018th from 922) 0.028 Karachi (186th from 524) 6.77 Lahore (182nd from 230) 6.81 38.42 London (3rd, no change) 55.93 New York (2nd, no change) 262.87 San Fransisco (1st, no change) 0 Nepra rejects govt petition for increase in power tariff Rejecting the govt’s petition for increase of 16 paisas per unit, NEPRA allowed tariff decrease of PKR 0.4 per unit for ex-WAPDA * Higher score indicates a higher rank. distribution companies on account of fuel price adjustment for Mar’19. The adjustment will, however, not be applicable to lifeline consumers who consume up to 50 units a month as well as K-Electric consumers. The Nation. Disclaimer 100 200 Source: KCCI Research; Startup Blink This report has been prepared by KCCI Research & Development Cell. The CPEC Entrepreneurs Forum held in Beijing information contained herein have been compiled or arrived at based upon More than 100 Chinese companies and 50 Pakistan enterprises have gathered at CPEC Entrepreneurs Forum to accelerate industrial information obtained from sources believed to be reliable and in good faith. cooperation between China and Pakistan under CPEC. The Forum is a part of 2.5 weeks International CPEC Workshop spanning across Such information has not been independently verified. Islamabad, Beijing and Gwadar to mainstream business community in the 2ndphase of CPEC. The Nation. icon represents the sole viewpoint of the KCCI R&D Cell, and is stated to enrich the readers' understanding of the news item. The