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CPDI BUDGET WATCH
Fortnightly Budget News Alerts
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PM’s aide going to attend IMF meetings just days before budget
The Express Tribune (April 12, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has decided to send his finance aide to attend spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to assess the mood in Washington before Pakistan makes a decision on whether to seek another bailout. The decision to send Dr Miftah Ismail, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, to Washington hardly 10 days before the announcement of budget signifies the importance of the move. Ismail … Read More |
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Govt unable to meet saving and investment targets
The Express Tribune (April 11, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: Two key structural problems of Pakistan’s economy – low investment and saving rates – remained unaddressed during the five-year PML-N tenure, as the government again missed both these critical targets in the outgoing fiscal year, showed official statistics. By the end of fiscal year 2017-18, private investment has been projected to fall to the lowest level in five years, despite the bonanza of the China-Pakistan Economic …….… Read More |
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China to further open its financial market to the world
China Daily (April 11, 2018) |
China central bank governor Yi Gang announced on Wednesday a slew of detailed measures to further open up the financial market, including erasing the capital cap on foreign-owned banks and wealth management firms operating in China, as well as easing equity restrictions on foreign securities and fund companies within this year. China expects most measures to open financial market will be in place by June 30, Yi said at a … Read More |
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Growth to hit 11-year peak
DAWN (April 10, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: The PML-N government on Monday announced that the economy is going to grow at 5.79 per cent, slightly lower than the target of 6pc for 2017-18, but highest in the last 11 years. In the meeting of National Accounts Committee (NAC), only 15 out of 20 key growth indicators were found to be on target. The growth rate, however, is provisional as final numbers for the full year will firm up later. The per capita income calculates to Rs180,204 for … Read More |
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Deficit to top $1 trillion per year by 2020, CBO says
The Washington Post (April 09, 2018) |
America’s deficit is rising sharply and will surpass $1 trillion per year by 2020, a gap that has grown since Congress cut taxes and increased spending, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday. The federal deficit — the gap between how much the government takes in and how much it spends — will hit $804 billion in fiscal 2018, up 21 percent from 2017, the CBO said. “The federal budget deficit grows substantially over the next several years,” CBO Budget …… Read More |
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Hungary posts 345.3bn forint March budget deficit
Business Recorder (April 09, 2018) |
BUDAPEST: Hungary’s 2018 budget deficit widened by 345.3 billion forints ($1.36 billion) to 871.9 billion forints in March, the Economy Ministry said on Monday, affirming its 2.4 percent of gross domestic product full-year deficit target. The gap was widened by the financing of European Union-sponsored projects as well as spending on urban development projects, the ministry said. It said one-off pre-election food vouchers provided to pensioners also … Read More |
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Work on budget well under say
Express Tribune (April 07, 2018) |
QUETTA: Adviser to Balochistan Chief Minister on Finance Dr Ruqayya Saeed Hashmi has said useful suggestions are being taken from stakeholders, budget experts and finance department officials regarding the budget 2018-19. She said this while addressing a seminar on Governance and Policy Project (GPP) organised by the finance department on Thursday. On the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary Naseebullah………. Read More |
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Trump proposes $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese products
CNBC News (April 06, 2018) |
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he has instructed the United States Trade Representative to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs against China. “In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Trump said in a ……….Read More |
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Shortest discussion on budget since 2000
The Economic Times (April 04, 2018) |
NEW DELHI: Budget session 2018 has a dubious distinction — it will have approved a Budget of over Rs 24 lakh crore with members of Parliament spending less than a day of discussion on it. In this Budget session, conducted in two phases, MPs in Lok Sabha spent only 14 and half hours debating the Budget while Rajya Sabha spent even less — 10.9 hours. It’s the least amount of time spent by Parliament deliberating the Budget since 2000, for…… Read More |
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Inflation eases to 3.2pc
DAWN (April 03, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: Inflation, measured through Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 3.2 per cent in March from 3.8pc in the previous month, mainly driven by a drop in prices of perishable eatables. The CPI-based inflation has decelerated for the third consecutive month after it reached peak of 4.6pc in December 2017. The CPI tracks the prices of around 480 commodities every month in urban centres across the country, according to data released by …. Read More |
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Planning Ministry want Rs 1.1 trillion as development budget
Express Tribune by Shahbaz Rana (April 03, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: As budget meetings begin in earnest to assess financial needs of various arms of the government, the planning ministry has demanded Rs1.1 trillion for upcoming fiscal year’s development budget, which is 37.5% higher than the ceiling indicated to it. The Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform is not satisfied with the finance ministry’s decision to allocate only Rs800 billion for Public Sector Development Programme …. Read More |
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Upcoming Punjab budget to be agriculture friendly
Pakistan Today (March 31, 2018) |
LAHORE: Punjab’s finance minister Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha on Friday told journalists that its forthcoming budget for financial year 2018-19, would raise quotas for agricultural and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sectors.
Ms. Pasha said the provincial government was removing general sales on electric tube wells to decrease input costs for farmers and over 35,000 farmers have been granted concessional loans, reported……Read More |
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Development budget to take hit from cuts.
Express Tribune (March 23, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: The finance ministry has proposed Rs800 billion development budget for the next fiscal year, which is one-fifth less than the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for this year and would affect physical progress on almost 1,100 schemes. The finance ministry on Thursday formally informed the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform about its intentions to allocate Rs800 billion for fiscal year 2018-19, said sources in the ……Read More |
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Budget preparation: NFC meeting convened to allot provinces’ share
Express Tribune (March 22, 2018) |
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has summoned a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) by the end of March in order to discuss forthcoming Federal Budget 2018-19 likely to be announced by the end of April. “The CCI and the meeting on National Finance Commission (NFC) Award are to be held on March 27, 2018 to discuss and resolve various issues related to the federating units,” official sources in the finance ministry told ……Read More |
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