Day: January 12, 2022

National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) of the Ministry of Finance has expressed concerns about the marginal increase in sugar prices across various cities during a recent meeting. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Mr. Shaukat Tarin, presided over the meeting held at the Finance Division.

The meeting was informed that the increase in price was due to disruption in the supply caused by rain and fog.

NPMC was updated on the prices of wheat flour and the meeting expressed satisfaction on the stability in the wheat flour prices and availability of sufficient stocks of wheat in the country.

The committee was also apprised of the variations in the prices of pulses, and it was informed that except for the prices of Moong pulse, there was an increase in the prices of other pulses, mainly due to exchange rate variations and increase in freight charges. Further, the arrival of locally produced stock of Gram pulse in near future will ease its price.

Economic Advisor Finance Division apprised the NPMC on weekly SPI, which increased slightly by 0.08 percent in the week as compared to the previous week where it decreased by 0.50 percent.

The committee was informed that 33 food items contributed to a decline in the weekly SPI by -0.14 percent, whereas 18 non-food items contributed an increase of 0.22 percent. Prices of seven items registered a decline, which contributed decline in the weekly SPI by 0.46 percent. During the week, prices of tomatoes declined by 0.11 percent, chili powder by 0.26 percent, eggs by 0.05 percent, and others by 0.04 percent.

NPMC was informed that prices of 22 items remained stable and 25 items registered an increase in prices, which contributed to an increase in the SPI by 0.54 percent. Prices of potatoes increased by 0.03 percent, chicken by 0.12 percent, petrol by 0.21 percent, and others increased by 0.18 percent.

It was informed that prices of tomatoes and onion in the last week were at the lowest as compared to their prices three years earlier. The meeting expressed satisfaction with the decline in the prices of the essential items.

The Finance Minister expressed concerns about the increase in the prices of pulses and enquired regarding the production trend of pulses in the world. He directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MoFS&R) to build strategic reserves of pulses, considering the lowest prices of pulses in the international market. He also directed the MoFS&R and provincial governments to take creative measures to ensure a smooth supply of pulses at fair prices.

The NPMC was briefed on the availability of essential goods at subsidized rates at the Sastaa & Sahulat Bazaars across the country. Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, lauded the efforts of the Government of the Punjab, KP, and Islamabad Administration in providing key items at discounted prices through arranging Sastaa Bazaars and also expressed satisfaction with the availability of essential items at low rates in Sastaa Bazaars in Sindh and Baluchistan. He also advised the Government of Sindh and Baluchistan to establish Sastaa Bazaars for the welfare of the general public.

In his concluding remarks, the Finance Minister underscored the efforts being made for keeping the prices of essential items in check and measures to ensure a smooth supply of essential commodities throughout the country.

Federal Minister for Industries & Production, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Economic Advisor Finance Division, Chief Statistician Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Managing Director Utility Stores Corporation, Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, provincial chief secretaries, and other senior officers participated in the meeting.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) posted gains against the US Dollar (USD) for the second consecutive day in the interbank market today. It gained 40 paisas against the greenback after hitting an intra-day high of Rs. 175.87 against the latter during today’s open market session.

It appreciated by 0.23 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 176.23 today after gaining five paisas and closing at 176.63 in the interbank market on Tuesday, 11 January.

The rupee continued its winning streak against the USD a little less than a day after the World Bank (WB) estimated Pakistan’s GDP growth rate at four percent for 2022-23, benefiting from structural reforms enhancing export competitiveness and improving the financial viability of the power sector.

The global lender explained in its latest report ‘Global Economic Prospects Report’ that the output in Pakistan is expected to grow by 3.4 percent in the fiscal year 2021-22 ending June 2022, and by 4.0 percent the next fiscal year.

The local credit demand has been struggling to catch up since the start of the new year. While the private sector was stimulated in the second half of 2021, supported by a seasonal uptick in demand and an increase in input prices, a comparable projection is yet to materialize as most of the country’s economic sectors look for newer sources of easy money.

Discussing the rupee’s near-term outlook earlier in the day, the former Treasury Head of Chase Manhattan Bank, Asad Rizvi, tweeted, “PPer SBP Data, Credit to Private sector has hit Rs. 1.013tn. Increase in credit flow was for ongoing projects to meet [the] demand for working capital caused by inflation & depreciation of [the] PKR. For new industrial & manufacturing projects @ImranKhanPTI lending should be double”.

The PKR reversed losses against most of the other major currencies in the interbank currency market today. It posted gains of eight paisas against the Euro (EUR), six paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 10 paisas against both the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and the UAE Dirham (AED), and held out against the Pound Sterling (GBP).

Conversely, it lost 54 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) in today’s interbank currency market after succumbing to market sentiments fueled by Canada’s contentious travel advisory for Pakistan.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The government has decided to conduct a comprehensive third-party security audit of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to determine any vulnerabilities in the system, as it is constantly subjected to cyber-attacks.

Official documents of the bureau have revealed that the FBR system faces approximately an average of 71,000 cyber-attacks in a single month.

This volume has increased sharply over the past few years as the tools and methods available to hackers have become significantly powerful and developed.

The most recent cyber-attack on FBR’s data center occurred on Independence Day last year, 14 August 2021. The data of the previous cyber-attacks depict an increase in the frequency of attacks on days of national significance.

However, because of the security protocol already in place, the cyber-attack in August was restricted to the front end of the data center, and only the virtual machines were affected, which disrupted the day-to-day operations for a few days.

The initial forensic analysis conducted by the security team concluded that the Storage Area Network (SAN), on which the data is stored, has not been compromised, and to date, there is no indication or evidence that any taxpayer data was stolen, altered, or accessed in any way.

FBR took immediate action to restore the network, and the operations of the bureau were resumed quickly. There is an ongoing investigation into the current breach with the help of an internationally renowned cyber security firm. This firm is conducting a deep scan of the entire FBR network, including all machines located in the field formations, to locate the possible point of the initial breach.

The documents revealed that once this has been figured out and remedial actions have been taken, a comprehensive third-party security audit would be carried out to determine any remaining vulnerabilities. A comprehensive action plan to counter the vulnerabilities is being put together, and its execution will be monitored closely.

The federal cabinet has endorsed the operational emergency declared by the Chairman FBR and Secretary of Finance, under which FBR has been authorized to undertake emergency procurement of cyber-space and information security-related hardware, software, and services to protect the organization from such future attacks. Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has already approved bridge financing of Rs. 3,860 million for this purpose.

Despite these precautions, it is pertinent to mention that the threat landscape is evolving at a faster pace than the organizations trying to protect themselves. Therefore, while initial procurements may protect FBR for the short and medium-term, continued investment into the IT system is required to protect and allow the organization to evolve into a true data-driven digital organization in the longer term.

Source: Pro Pakistani

An EU mission, the panel was informed, will visit Pakistan in February in connection with the extension of Good Governance and Sustainable Development (GSP Plus) status. It will monitor the situation of human rights, women rights, minority rights, labor rights, child rights, and climate change in the country.

This was revealed in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce held with Senator Zeeshan Khanzada in the chair, as the committee was briefed on the Pak–EU Bilateral Trade under the GSP+ on Wednesday.

During the course of the meeting, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood briefed the committee on EU GSP+ status and remarked that the Eu’s Special Incentive Arrangement for GSP+ incentive provided many Pakistani export-oriented products including garments, bed linen, terry towels, hosiery, leather, sports & surgical goods, etc duty-free access in the EU market.

The committee was informed that 66 percent of tariff lines from Pakistan benefit from tariffs (duty-free access), covering the top 10 product sectors of export to the European Union — all except cereals like rice. It was further informed that the rest of 24 percent enjoyed the Most-Favored Nation (MFN) tariffs. The scheme included a concession to Pakistan whereas no reciprocal concession was given to the European Union.

Pakistan’s exports to the European Union have increased by 47 percent from USD 6,095 million in 2013 -14 to USD 8,943 million in 2020-21, while the country’s imports have marked an increase of one percent from USD 4,545 million in 2013-14 to USD 4,588 million in 2020-21.

The panel was told that the total volume of Pakistan’s trade with the European Union has increased by 27 percent from USD 10,640 million in 2013-2014 to USD 13,531 million in 2020-21. The trade balance has increased in favor of Pakistan from USD 1,550 million in 2013 -14to USD 4,355 million in 2020-21.

The Advisor revealed that a meeting between an official of the Ministry of Commerce and a Director General of a Mexican company named SENASICA was held. He said the Mexican company’s official had proposed that Pakistan might extend an invitation to SENASIZA and OIRSA for a visit of an expert delegation to Pakistan. He added that the Ministry of Commerce had requested the Ministry of National Food Security and Research and the Department of Plant Protection to work on this proposal at the earliest.

The committee recommended introducing trade in Pakistani Rupees on all indigenous items.

The Senate panel decided to conduct meetings with the Ministry of Commerce on the tariff compositions. Secretary Commerce Ministry informed the committee that the tariff compositions for the financial year 2022-2023 would be finalized before 31 March 2022.

Senator Zeeshan Khanzada said the tariff composition was under the ambit of the Ministry of Commerce, so the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should not bypass the Ministry while determining the tariff rates as observed in the Money Bill 2021.

The committee recommended that the powers to determine the tariff composition should be shifted to the Ministry of Commerce.

Deputy Chairman Muhammad Mirza Afridi inquired about the mechanisms adopted to determine the tariff. Secretary Commerce informed the committee that the tariff compositions were determined with the consultation of the National Tariff Commission (NTC) and an economists team.

The committee was informed that Mexico imposed a ban on rice import from Pakistan due to the detection of Khapra beetle (a destructive pest of grain products) in some shipments. It was told that a technical expert from Mexico had visited Pakistan in December 2014, however, the ban was not lifted.

Speaking on the issue, Senator, Saleem Mandviwalla said, “a stock of 600 million dollars in Mexico was present at that time.” He said, “all the countries were able to lift the ban except Pakistan.”

The Chair directed the authorities concerned to provide information on the Textile Policy Review in the next meeting.

The Chairman committee directed the Ministry to hold meetings and pursue the list of banned items and make a way forward on the subject on the issue of adding non-Afghan origin goods which included perishable goods auto parts, spare parts, and tobacco in the allowed list of trading goods

Senators Fida Muahmmad, Danesh Kumar, Palwasha Muhammad Zai Khan, and Muhammad Abdul Qadir along with senior officials from the Commerce Ministry and the attached departments attended the meeting.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan Single Window (PSW) has introduced a new feature to enable the subscription of companies having only foreign nationals as directors.

The new functionality allows both local and foreign-owned companies that do not have a Pakistani national as “Director” or “Authorized Representative” registered with FBR or SECP to subscribe to the PSW system and conduct cross-border trade transactions.

The new feature also allows the Pakistani nationals being Principal Officers of such companies to complete biometric verification for PSW subscription as long as they are registered in the FBR/SECP database. In case neither Director nor Authorized Representative is a Pakistani national, the subscription will be completed based on an electronic verification of the banking information.

The PSW subscription module was formally launched in November 2021 by the Finance Minister, Mr. Shaukat Tarin. The PSW subscription module is fully integrated with the government databases for performing electronic Know-Your-Customer (KYC) protocols. It offers a completely paperless solution for online subscription and registration of individuals, products, and entities for compliance with customs and other regulatory requirements.

“We continue to upgrade our services and enhance the scope of different products to meet user requirements,” stated the CEO of PSW, Mr. Aftab Haider, while speaking on the rollout of the new update. “The system is being developed to ensure ease of doing business in Pakistan, and we look forward to continuous feedback from the business community for the system’s improvement,” he added.

Pakistan Single Window (PSW) is an initiative of Pakistan’s federal government to transform the trade and industry ecosystem, and it is expected to be formally inaugurated in March 2022.

Source: Pro Pakistani