PM’s directives disregarded: ECC decides to slash industrial power tariff by 30pc

ISLAMABAD: While disregarding the directives of the prime minister for reducing the power tariff for industrial sector, especially for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by 50 percent, the ECC on Monday decided to partially reduce the power tariff in the range of 25 to 30 percent. The ECC left its final approval with the cabinet that is scheduled to meet…

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SSGC’s receivable against PSM, KE swells to Rs154bn

ISLAMABAD: Combined receivable of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) against the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and K-Electric has swelled to Rs154 billion. A sub-committee met under Khawaja Asif on the implementation on Monday. The committee examined the audit paras of the Petroleum Division for financial year 2004-2005 to 2009-2010. The committee was apprised that receivable of Rs54 billion against…

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Provisional figures

The Federal Board of Revenue’s provisional revenue collection stood at Rs1,337 billion during July-October (2020-21) against the assigned target of Rs1,322 billion for the first four months of the current fiscal year, reflecting an increase of Rs15 billion. According to the updated data of provisional revenue collection figures compiled by the FBR here on Monday, the FBR has collected taxes…

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Pakistan seeks to reform int’l investment regime

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the formation of a working group of experts for reforming Pakistan’s international investment regime. The group, an initiative of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security Moeed Yusuf, is to “conduct analysis through intellectual input and undertake original research’ for the Strategic Policy Planning Cell,” according to a notification to…

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IMF insisting on contractionary policies

ISLAMABAD: With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reportedly insisting on politically challenging contractionary monetary and fiscal policies as prior second tranche release conditions, the Khan administration appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Sources on condition of anonymity told this newspaper that negotiations with the Fund for the resumption of the stalled extended Fund facility include:…

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CPI inflation up 1.70pc MoM

The Cons-umer Price Index-based inflation of October 2020 increased by 1.70 percent over September 2020, and increased by 8.91 percent over corresponding month of the last year i.e. October 2019 as a result of increase in food items including sugar, pulses, chicken, and wheat flour. According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) month-on-month basis, the…

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