News

Buckling under the tax weight

Following the imposition of higher tax rates on Pakistan’s captive taxpayers (the salaried class), citizens now contribute Rs1.3 billion daily to the national exchequer. Totalling Rs41bn each month, annual tax collection is expected to exceed the Rs500bn mark by the end of FY25 against Rs368bn collected in FY24. While this boosts the Federal Board of Revenue’s performance and eases Internationa

Housing shortfall hits 12m units

More than 12 million houses are required across the country and the demand is rising due to negative growth in this sector. Some banking experts said the liquidity coming out from banks due to falling interest rate is expected to enter the property market and this could stimulate growth in the housing and construction sector. Builders and developers are, however, hopeful the housing sector w

Ufone losses not govt’s concern

While acknowledging that the government holds the ownership of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) with the majority of shares, IT and Telecom Minister Shaza Khawaja has admitted that subsidiary Ufone is not sharing its loss-making balance sheet with the government. “Ufone is operationally under Etisalat. Therefore, the government is not responsible for its constant loss-making,”

Textile exports surge 16pc

The textile and clothing exports rebounded 15.85 per cent in January from a year ago, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday. From the start of the new fiscal year, the textile exports maintained a bullish trend with robust growth of 13pc in August, 17.92pc in September, 13.11 pc in October, 10.81 pc in November, and 5.55pc in December. However, export growth bounced back to dou

Oil imports post paltry growth in July-January

The oil import bill grew a paltry 1.35 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year to $9.46 billion from $9.33bn over the corresponding period last year, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. The data analysis suggests that all the groups, including petroleum goods, consumer durables and raw materials, have witnessed a growth in imports dur