Issue 10

Budget Study Centre   Issue 10
February 28, 2018

CPDI BUDGET WATCH

Fortnightly Budget News Alerts
 

Next 10 years crucial for Pakistan’s economy: WB


DAWN (February 22, 2018)

MURREE: “Next 10 years are crucial for Pakistan to set a higher growth trajectory, with challenges arising on the economic front, due to lack of political consensus,” said the Country Director, World Bank, Patchamuthu Illangovan, on Wednesday. Addressing participants of an economic conference, Illangovan pointed out that Pakistan’s economy is facing short-term issues in the wake of rising external account deficit. “The government had held back …..Read More

UK borrowing at lowest level since financial crises


BBC News (February 21, 2018)

UK borrowing for the year to date is at its lowest level since the financial crisis, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, fell to £37.7bn between April and January, down £7.2bn on the comparable period. It is the lowest figure for the period since January 2008, the ONS said. It added that it is investigating the impact of Carillion’s collapse on public sector finances. At the Budget in November, …..Read More

From tax year 2013 tp 2017: Except from salaried class, number of tax return filers shrinks


Express Tribune by Shahbaz Rana (February 21, 2018)

ISLAMABAD: In a disclosure that confirms the hollowness of tax base, the number of income tax return filers from all main sectors of the economy has contracted in the past five years and the only exception is the salaried class. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday presented sector-wise income tax return data of the last five years to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. The data was nothing less than an admission of failure on the part of tax …..Read More

Provincial govt launches “Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth Project”


Pakistan Observer (February 21, 2018)

LAHORE: The Punjab government Planning & Development Department has launched “Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth Project”. The project launch ceremony was held at the newly restored Wazir Khan Mosque courtyard in the Walled City of Lahore. The launch ceremony marked the Planning & Development Department’s five-year (2017-2022) collaboration with the World Bank Group to develop Punjab’s tourism sector …..Read More

Fiscal deficit widens to 2.2pc in first six months


Pakistan Today (February 20, 2018)

ISLAMABAD: The debt-ridden government of Pakistan spent Rs 796.3 billion, which is 2.2 per cent of the nation’s GDP, more than it earned during the first six months of the current financial year ending June, according to a report the ministry of finance placed on its website Tuesday. The government of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was able to collect taxes worth Rs 2.39 trillion during first six months of the current fiscal year through…Read More

Federal budget 2018-19 to be business friendly: Afzal


Pakistan Observer (February 19, 2018)

Faisalabad: State Minister for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan on Saturday said the federal budget 2018-19 will be business-friendly and utmost efforts would be made to make it tax free. He was addressing a function at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) in which draft of budget proposals were presented to him. The minister said that no doubt the government was facing multiple challenges but our effort was… Read More

Argentine economy grew close to 2.8pc in 2017-Treasury advisor


Business Recorder (February 19, 2018)

BUENOS AIRES: The Argentine economy grew “close to 2.8 percent” last year, Guido Sandleris, head of the advisory body to the Treasury Ministry, told a gathering of Japanese business leaders on Monday. The data, according to Sandleris, shows a clear recovery of the third-largest economy in Latin America after a contraction of gross domestic product of 2.2 percent in 2016. “Last year the Argentine economy grew close to….. Read More

US inflation rises faster than expected in January


Times of Malta (February 18, 2018)

A much anticipated report on US inflation showed that consumer prices rose faster than expected in January, a sign of firming inflation that bolstered expectations of higher interest rates. The Labour Department reported last week that the consumer price index grew by 0.5 per cent in the first month of the year against forecasts of a 0.3 per cent rise. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core measure of inflation increased by 0.3 per cent ….. Read More

France to reduce debt burden in 2018-Finance Minister


Times of Malta (February 15, 2018)

France’s government would take measures this year to reduce its debt burden in anticipation of higher interest rates, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday. Le Maire told a conference at the Finance Ministry that there was no doubt that interest rates would rise by the end of the year and the only question was by how fast. “We have to reduce our debt because it exposes us to an increase in interest rates … and we will take a certain number of measures in.…Read More

Japan economy grows for 8th straight quarter, longest since 1980s


Business Recorder (February 14, 2018)

TOKYO: Japan’s economy grew for the eighth straight quarter at the end of 2017, government data showed Wednesday, its longest period of expansion since the “bubble” boom days of the late 1980s. Gross domestic product figures fell short of expectations and represented a slowdown from the previous quarter, but analysts forecast continued growth nonetheless. GDP expanded just 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2017, the Cabinet Office said, …Read More
 

India’s retail inflation slightly eases in January

Business Recorder (February 12, 2018)

NEW DELHI: India’s retail inflation slightly eased in January from a 17-month high in December but remained above the 4 percent medium-term target of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the third straight month. India’s measure of consumer price inflation, the CPI index, rose 5.07 percent in January from a year earlier, data released by the Ministry of Statistics showed on Monday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted January’s rate would ease to …Read More
 

Provinces to get CPEC revenue through NFC

The Nation (February 11, 2018)

ISLAMABAD – The federal government would distribute the income generated by China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects among the provinces through National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. “Any increase in income generated by cpec projects will come into Federal Consolidated Fund for further distribution between Federation and provinces . Therefore, the impact of income generated by cpec projects will have positive impact… Read More