ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan registered 2,864 new companies in July, according to the data released by SECP on Monday. This signalled an increase of 25 per cent from the corresponding month last year and marked the highest number of companies ever registered in a month. The total number of registered companies now stands at 225,561. About 58 per cent were registered as private limited companies in July, 39pc as single-member and the remaining 39pc as public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organisations, and limited liability partnerships. Almost cent per cent enrolments were done online. The information…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has stepped up efforts to find the new head of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as the incumbent is set to retire on Aug 15, Dawn learnt on Monday. The government has been compelled to look for the new tax czar as the FBR chairman, Amjed Zubair Tiwana, has sought treatment six months before reaching the age of superannuation. A list of officials of the Internal Revenue Service and Customs who have a reputation of ’unblemished integrity has been created with inputs from intelligence agencies as well as the current FBR chairman. The government is rushing to…
NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes slumped on Monday as risk appetite among investors dropped on fears of a US recession following weak economic data last week, sending tremors across global markets. Market worries eased a bit as the day progressed and stocks pared losses after data showed US services sector activity in July rebounded from a four-year low amid a rise in orders and employment. Traders attributed some weakness in stocks also to unwinding of sharp positions of carry trades, where investors borrow money from economies with low interest rates such as Japan or Switzerland to fund their bets…
ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) has declared two banks “essential” entities, thus saving them from being privatised. The committee’s meeting on Monday, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, examined the status of SOEs for their probable handover to the private sector. The meeting was also attended by Minister for Housing Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Minister for Maritime Affairs Qaiser Sheikh, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema, SBP governor and SECP chairman. The meeting decided that the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), being part of the Sovereign Welfare Fund, is exempt from the SOE Act 2003. FM Aurangzeb assures…
ISLAMABAD: With growing unease over unaffordable energy tariffs, the government is working on reducing the return on equity (ROE) for its plants and offering improved prices to attract additional investments in hydrocarbon exploration and development. Informed sources told Dawn that the government had already decided to scale down the ROE for public sector power projects, including hydropower. Since most of the ongoing projects’ financials were linked to local and international debt, different financial models were being looked into. What could be a trade-off between a revision in return on government equity and a dent in the budget or the financials of generation…
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed “swift criminal sanctions” following an emergency meeting on the far-right riots that broke out across England last week over the murder of three children. The prime minister met with ministers and police chiefs, including Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley, to discuss how to quell the violence that first broke out in Southport, northwest England, on Tuesday. Over the weekend, several police officers were injured and scores of people were arrested as mobs throwing bricks and flares clashed with officers, burnt and looted shops, and smashed the windows of cars and homes. As part of a “number…
MOSCOW: A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian leaders including the president and top security officials as the Islamic Republic weighs its response to the killing of a Hamas leader. Russia has condemned the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas, in Iran last week and called on all parties to refrain from steps that could tip the Middle East into a wider regional war. Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s security council, was shown by Russia’s Zvezda television station meeting Rear Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)…
WASHINGTON: Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two states seen as must-wins in the Nov 5 presidential election, have failed to adopt electoral reforms intended to avoid a repeat of the chaos that followed Republican Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Trump are locked in a tight contest in those two states, public opinion polls show. They are the heart of the “Blue Wall” states of America’s former industrial heartland that are likely to play a critical role in either candidate’s path to victory. Their failure to embrace a 2022 federal law could…
ISLAMABAD: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an open-ended extraordinary meeting of its executive committee at the foreign ministers’ level on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, including the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and its aggressions against Iran’s sovereignty. The meeting would be held at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah, according to a statement issued by the secretariat on Monday. It said the meeting has been convened in response to the atrocities being committed by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip. To date,…
IN some parts of Liverpool, life is as normal as ever. At Lime Street train station, tourists come and go, discussing the cooler weather this week compared to last week’s heatwave. On local buses, passengers chat about recent trips or upcoming holidays, seemingly unaffected by the recent violence — the worst wave of riots in the country in about 13 years. Merseyside Police reported 33 arrests following the far-right riots on County Road, which resulted in looting of shops, torching of Spellow Library, a community hub, and attacks on police officers, some of whom were hospitalised. Muslims in the city, however, are…
