KARACHI: Pakistan Business Council (PBC) chief executive officer Ehsan Malik said on Wednesday the country’s fiscal policy is inconsistent, inequitable and replete with U-turns. Addressing a summit of business leaders jointly held by Nutshell and Martin Dow groups, the head of the advocacy body representing the interests of 87 blue-chip companies said the latest imposition of sales tax on new-economy products like solar panels and laptops is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. “The inter-ministerial fragmentation needs to be resolved. We have at times ministers who’re talking in different directions. That’s very confusing for businesses,” he…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
WASHINGTON: Growth in Pakistan surprised on the upside last year, supported by improving domestic demand, record-high remittance inflows, a narrow targeting of lockdowns, and accommodative monetary policy, says a World Bank report released on Wednesday. The bank’s Global Economic Prospects report 2022 projects that growth in the South Asian region (SAR) will accelerate to 7.6 percent in 2022, as pandemic-related disruptions fade, before slowing to 6.0 percent in 2023. The World Bank has revised growth projections for the region since June 2021, because of “better prospects in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.” The report projects that Pakistan’s economy will grow by 3.4 percent…
ISLSMABAD: The Fertiliser Review Committee (FRC) on Wednesday observed that urea was still being sold at prices higher than what the authorities had prescribed it to be. The committee was confident that an increase in urea availability with higher daily supply status would help stabilise its prices in the coming days. The FRC meeting was informed that a report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed urea price was around Rs1,850 per 20kg bag. Chairing the meeting, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar and Federal Minister for Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam noted that the…
LAHORE: Test cricketer Abid Ali, who was diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome last month, began this week his rehabilitation at the National High Performance Centre (NHPC) in Lahore, under the supervision of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The 34-year-old Abid faced the unusual health condition on Dec 21 when he felt chest pain while playing a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match in Karachi. The right-handed batter immediately after the chest pain, was rushed along with the team doctor to a local hospital in Karachi where he underwent angioplasty. According to the PCB, Abid has started the rehab under the supervision of the Board’s medical…
LONDON: Azeem Rafiq said the ban on Yorkshire from hosting internationals over the handling of his racism allegations should be lifted as the county club is taking steps in the right direction to bring about change. In November, the 30-year-old former England Under-19 captain, who is of Pakistani descent and played for Yorkshire from 2008-14, told a British parliamentary committee he had suffered “inhuman” treatment in his time with the county. The scandal shook English sport and cost Yorkshire sponsors, with the England and Wales Cricket Board suspending the county from hosting international or major matches at Headingley. New Yorkshire…
HOBART: England captain Joe Root Wednesday called on his team to harness the “fight and pride” they showed in salvaging a draw in Sydney and use it from day one at the fifth and final Test in Hobart. The tourists staved off Australia’s victory push on Sunday with Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad batting out two tense final overs to deny Australia a fourth straight Test win in the lopsided series. Root said the way his men clung on to avoid defeat had given them a platform for the day-night Test at Hobart starting Friday. “On the back of three…
KARACHI: A committee constituted by the Sindh High Court (SHC) submitted its report on Wednesday and recommended a complete ban on cryptocurrency and related activities in the country. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha directed the committee to send its report to the ministries of finance and law to consider it at a joint meeting and take a final decision whether cryptocurrency was allowed in Pakistan. It also asked both ministries for their recommendations about whether the business of cryptocurrency in any form can legally be carried out in the country, as this was causing difficulty…
MADRID: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday left here for Islamabad after completion of his two-day visit to Spain. Ambassador of Pakistan in Spain, Shujaat Rathor, and Spanish envoy in Islamabad Manuel Durn Gimnez-Rico and senior officers of the foreign ministry saw off the foreign minister at Adolfo Surez Madrid-Barajas Airport. The foreign minister visited Spain on the invitation of his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares. During his stay, Mr Qureshi met his counterpart, presidents of Spain’s Congress of Deputies and Foreign Relations Committee, Spanish trade minister and members of the Spanish parliament. During his meeting with…
BRUSSELS: Nato allies rejected Russia’s demand for a new security settlement in Europe on Wednesday, challenging President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops deployed near Ukraine and join talks on reducing the threat of open conflict. Meeting senior Kremlin envoys at their headquarters in Brussels, the Nato members said Moscow would have no veto on Ukraine or any other country joining the alliance, warning it would pay a high price if it invaded. “Russia most of all will have to decide whether they really are about security, in which case they should engage, or whether this was all a pretext, and…
The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Wednesday confirmed the death of senior leader Mufti Khalid Balti alias Mohammad Khurasani, whose killing in the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan was revealed this week. The current TTP spokesman, who also shares the Mohammad Khurasani alias with Balti, confirmed his death in a statement but shared no details of how he had died. A senior security official from Pakistan had confirmed Balti’s killing on Monday, saying he was the current TTP spokesman. However, TTP had said Balti was not holding any position. A militant source told Dawn.com that Balti’s funeral was held in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar…
