 |
CPDI BUDGET WATCH
Fortnightly Budget News Alerts
|
|
| |
China agrees to double its imports from Pakistan: Dawood
The Pakistan Observer (Nov 08, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Industry and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood here on Wednesday said that during recently concluded visit of Prime Minister, China has agreed to increase its import from Pakistan by $1 billion immediately while the imports from Pakistan would further be increased by $1 billion next year. This will help Pakistan to boost its exports to China from existing level of $1.2 billion to $2.2 billion by end… Read More |
|
| |
LTU falls short of Rs60bln in revenue in July-October
The Express Tribune (Nov 08, 2018) |
KARACHI:Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Karachi, the main arm of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), has missed its target for the first four months of the current fiscal year of 2018/19 by 15 percent or Rs59 billion owing to a significant decline in collection from petroleum and corporate sectors, official data showed on Wednesday.
The provisional figures showed that the LTU Karachi collected Rs351 billion during the July-October period as against the…Read More |
|
| |
Pakistan has debt problem, but not China debt problem’
The Express Tribune (Nov 07, 2018) |
| BEIJING: Pakistan has a debt problem for sure, however, it does not have a China debt problem, said Finance Minister Asad Umar. Speaking to the China Global Television Network (CGTN), at the China International Import Exhibition (CIIE), his remarks came in response to accusations that China was using debt diplomacy to expand its influence worldwide. Umar has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was an excellent example of cooperation…Read More |
|
| |
Pakistan, IMF to start bailout talks today
The Express Tribune (Nov 07, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to begin talks for a second bailout package in five years, amid Finance Minister Asad Umar’s proclamation that an immediate balance of payments crisis has been averted with the help of China and Saudi Arabia. The IMF and Pakistan would start on Wednesday two-week long parleys as Islamabad still remains on a weak footing due to disappointing fiscal results for first quarter (July-September) of…Read More |
|
| |
On the eve of IMF talks, Pakistan says balance of payments crisis over
The Pakistan Today (Nov 06, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister Asad Umar said on Tuesday that its balance of payments crisis was over, a day before an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team was due to arrive to discuss a possible aid package. Asad Umar had announced last month that Pakistan would seek an IMF funding package, its 13th since the late 1980s. But he said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s securing of a $6 billion package from Saudi Arabia plus promised…Read More |
|
| |
Rs45m budget for Zhob MC approved
The Pakistan Observer (Nov 06, 2018) |
ZHOB: Municipal Committee Zhob unanimously passed its annual expenditure budget for fiscal year 2018-19. Total volume of the budget is forty five million rupees. The annual budget unanimously approved by the house amounting to Rs45 million.
The newly-elected Chairman MC Engineer Abdul Rehman Mandokhail presided over the budget session, while the session was attended by former chairman Abdul Saleem Mandokhail, vice chairman Haji Naseeb Nasar, Abdul Qayyum…Read More |
|
| |
Chinese loan accounts for only 6.3pc of Pakistan’s total foreign debt
The Pakistan Today (Nov 05, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: The Chinese government’s soft loan for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects accounts for only 6.3 per cent of Pakistan’s total foreign debt, said sources in the Embassy of China on Monday. They said of all the CPEC projects, only Karakoram Highway (KKH) Phase-II, Karachi-Lahore Motorway (Sukkur-Multan), Orange Line Metro Train and laying of Optical Fiber Cable have utilised the Chinese government’s soft loan, which was…Read More |
|
| |
Hammond says growth, not budget surplus, key to reduce debtst quarter FY19
The Euro News (Nov 05, 2018) |
| LONDON (Reuters) : Chancellor Philip Hammond raised the prospect of looser budget policy after Brexit and said faster growth was the best way to cut Britain’s debt burden, but insisted he was still committed to ultimately running a budget surplus. Hammond’s annual budget last week reinforced some analysts’ doubts about his commitment to a budget surplus, after he used a tax windfall to fund public spending commitments rather than to make faster progress at….Read More |
|
| |
Govt releases Rs 105.46b for development projects under PSDP 2018-19
The Pakistan Today (Nov 04, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: The government has released over Rs105.46 billion under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2018-19 for various ongoing and new schemes against the total allocation of Rs675 billion. The released funds include Rs49.02 billion for federal ministries and Rs18.6 billion for special areas, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform. Out of these allocations, the government has released Rs32.38 billion for National… Read More |
|
| |
Absence of debt strategy marred Balochistan’s budget: report
The DAWN (Nov 04, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: Reviewing the performance of Balochistan’s public finance management, an assessment report released by the World Bank says the provincial government has been preparing an unrealistic deficit budget since 2013-14, which it cannot finance because it is not allowed to borrow in the absence of a debt strategy. Over the years, the government has been able to curtail annual expenditures within available resources, yet significant shortcomings exist resulting…Read More |
|
| |
KL budget sets higher deficit, cuts subsidies
The Straits Times (Nov 03, 2018) |
| Kuala Lumpur:&nbps; Malaysia’s six-month-old government yesterday announced its budget for 2019, which set a higher deficit to tackle development expenditure and debts left by the former administration, and coun-ter slowing economic growth. Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) first financial plan will tap national oil giant Petronas, which will cough up RM30 billion (S$10 billion) in a special dividend to help with payments, in particular, RM37 billion in tax refunds owed by the former administration…Read More |
|
| |
Pakistan warns against adverse effects on UN peacekeeping amid shrinking budgets
The Nation (Nov 03, 2018) |
| New York (AFP): Pakistan has warned that arbitrary cuts in peacekeeping funding risk diminishing the effectiveness of UN’s flagship operations and jeopardizing the safety of peacekeepers. “Our focus should be on enhancing capabilities, not across the board cuts in the peacekeeping budget,” ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, which deals with Special political and decolonization matters. “Even if the discussion is reduced to…Read More |
|
| |
Transactions through e-banking channels touched Rs47.4 trillion in FY18: SBP
The Pakistan Today (Nov 01, 2018) |
| LAHORE: The volume of transactions in the last financial year 2017-18 processed via retail e-Banking channels i.e. real-time online banking (RTOB), ATMs, POS, mobile phone banking, internet banking etc touched 756.5 million valued at Rs47.4 trillion. According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s “Annual Performance Review 2017-18” report, RTOB transactions accounted for 84.1 percent share in terms of the value of transactions value with a volume share…Read More |
|
| |
FBR’s revenue collection rises 6.7% YOY, misses target by Rs100 billion for July October FY19
The Pakistan Today (Nov 01, 2018) |
| The tax regulator’s revenue collection went up by 6.7% year-on-year (YoY) in the period between July-October 2018 FY19, collecting Rs1.1 trillion in taxes. However, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) missed its revenue collection target by Rs100 billion, reports Express Tribune. The provisional revenue collection missed the mark since the tax regulator has claimed it has stopped the practice of taking steps to fill the revenue gap. Although the tax regulator…Read More |
|
| |
Budget 2018: a missed opportunity to save public services
The Guardian (Oct 31, 2018) |
| For most public sector staff the budget will make little difference. The government adds £20bn more for health over five years, then waves £650m more for social care. But at the end of Philip Hammond’s show, public services are still far from fully clothed. Available money that could have saved services was instead used to seduce taxpayers; the fiscal sustainability of ageing Britain remains as bleak as ever. The size of the public sector will at best stay constant as a…Read More |
|
| |
PML-N wasted 55pc Punjab budget on bridges, metros: Minister
The News (Oct 31, 2018) |
| NANKANA SAHIB: Punjab Minister for Human Rights Ijaz Alam has said that priorities of the government are to provide justice, clean water and education to the people. He was talking to journalists at Gurdwara Janamasthan here on Tuesday. The PML-N government wasted 55 per cent of entire Punjab budget only on making bridges and metro bus in Lahore while the people were deprived of basic facilities in other parts of the province. He said that billions of rupees were…Read More |
|
| |
IMF deal to be Pakistan’s last: Asad
The News (Oct 30, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance and Revenue Asad Umer has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government would make contact with International Monetary Fund (IMF) as `last one ‘ in the history of the country through major increase in exports and decline in trade deficit in future. Speaking on floor of the House in National Assembly on Tuesday, the minister said that PPPP, PML-N and former dictators also contacted with IMF in their tenures and it…Read More |
|
| |
China to lower its de facto policy rate; EU’s budge guidelines
The Valuewalk (Oct 30, 2018) |
| For more than three years, the Italian 10-year government bond yield traded in a range with 2.5% serving as a market top of sorts. Then in June, that level was broken, with both fundamental and technical influencing markets. The higher rates result, in part, from budgetary issues that the EU has faced before, most notably in Greece. The moves higher in European rates come as a Capital Economics report notes that monetary easing, sending rates lower, isn’t altering China’s “gloomy” outlook for…Read More |
|
| |
Rs2.23 bn allocated for 17 health projects in south Punjab
The News (Oct 29, 2018) |
| LAHORE: On the direction of Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, an amount of Rs2.23 billion has been allocated for 17 mega health projects in South Punjab. Mega project of Nishter-2 will soon be started in Multan. The PTI government in its very first budget has allocated billions of rupees for health. Funds are being provided to complete health projects in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur Division and seven new development projects are also being started…Read More |
|
| |
| |
Finance ministry calls first meeting over NFC awards on 31st
The Pakistan Today (Oct 28, 2018) |
| ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance is going to hold its first Fiscal Coordination Committee (FCC) meeting this week to discuss the annual reports of the National Finance Commission (NFC) and the implementation status on World Bank’s financial management and service delivery programme. According to sources, the finance ministry will be holding the first meeting of the FCC, which was constituted in April 2018 to strengthen…Read More |
|
| |
| |
‘Financial crisis has begun’ Italy’s budget chaos risks second credit crunch, expert warns
The Express (Oct 28, 2018) |
| THE RISK of another financial crisis has escalated in the wake of Italy’s high-debt budget proposal, which may drive interests rates higher and escalate the dilemma further, a former leading official has warned. Italy’s populist coalition government sparked outrage in the European Union after proposing a budget deficit of 2.4 percent – a figure almost three times the previous administration’s target. The EU subsequently rejected the proposal and ordered Italy to amend it within…Read More |
|
| |
| |
The European Commission rejects Italy’s budget
The Economist (Oct 27, 2018) |
| Like a couple of prizefighters before a grudge match, the European Commission and the Italian government are standing toe to toe. On October 23rd Brussels demanded that the populist coalition in Rome rewrite its 2019 budget. It is the first time since the launch of the euro that the commission has rejected outright the fiscal blueprint of a member state…Read More |
|
| |
| |
Budget 2018: What we know already
BBC News (Oct 26, 2018) |
| However, when it comes to our money, the Budget Red Book is probably the most significant publication of the year. The 120 pages – even more if you count the supporting documents – outline the chancellor’s plans for public and personal finances. Yet the pages are far from fresh. Much of what is detailed in Philip Hammond’s speech and in the book has already been announced. This may not be immediately clear, so here is some of what we already know…Read More |
|
| |
| |
Budget to offer business rates relief for small shops
The Guardian (Oct 26, 2018) |
| The chancellor will cut business rates bills by a third for almost half a million small high street shops in a £1.5bn spending pledge to fight the threat posed by Amazon and other online retailers. In next week’s budget, Philip Hammond will order £900m of immediate business rates relief for small retailers in an effort to combat shuttered shops on the high street, where small businesses have been threatened by high rates and the rapid rise of online shopping…Read More |
|
| |
| |
Budget 2018: BBC editors on what to expect
BBC News (Oct 25, 2018) |
| The prime minister has promised an end to austerity, but can the chancellor, Philip Hammond, make good on her words in the Budget? The BBC’s economics editor Kamal Ahmed, business editor Simon Jack, and political editor Laura Kuenssberg explain why he cannot simply turn on the spending taps…Read More |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Users Today : 543
Users Yesterday : 722
This Month : 4728
This Year : 302166
Who's Online : 25