Author: web Desk

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed the confidence that Pakistan will get out of economic difficulties.

In his tweets on Thursday, the Prime Minister said he is acutely aware of the impact that a fuel price hike causes. He said the government is left with no choice but to raise the prices due to the IMF deal that the PTI government signed. He said the nation will soon be taken into confidence on the specifics of the IMF-PTI deal.

The Prime Minister wondered whether those who struck the worst ever deal with the IMF and took patently bad economic decisions have the conscience to face the truth. He said how can they pretend to be innocent when what the nation is going through is clearly their doing?

 

Source: Radio Pakistan

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Pakistan considers peace in Afghanistan imperative for the promotion of regional stability, connectivity and economic integration.

He said this while talking to Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi on the sidelines of the 3rd meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors in China.

He welcomed the continued engagement between Afghanistan and the international community to achieve a free, independent, economically strong and united Afghanistan.

The Minister said during the meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad this month, activation of the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan was announced.

He called on the international community to take concrete steps to ensure the continued supply of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and the development of long-term infrastructure.

 

Source: Radio Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s embattled prime minister, Imran Khan, received a serious political blow to his government Wednesday when another main coalition partner decided to join opposition groups seeking to oust him through a no-confidence vote due early next week.

 

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, Khan’s largest ally in the legislative National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, announced Wednesday it had resigned from the federal cabinet after reaching a deal with the united opposition.

Political opponents accuse the 69-year-old former cricket star of misruling the country and mismanaging the economy and foreign affairs, charges Khan vehemently rejects.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the 2018 general election but fell short of receiving a simple majority in the 342-member house, forcing him to form a coalition government with the help of political allies, including the MQM. Earlier in the week, the PTI lost the support of another regional ally, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

At least a dozen PTI lawmakers have already defected to the opposition and more are expected to do so ahead of the crucial no confidence vote, leaving the prime minister well short of 172 votes, a simple majority he needs to stay in office.

Opposition parities have consistently accused the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for almost half of its existence and allegedly continues to pressure elected governments from behind the scenes in policy making affairs, of manipulating the 2018 election to pave the way for Khan to rise to power.

However, opposition leaders and analysts lately have said that Khan lost the support of the military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, over key security appointments and foreign policy matters, encouraging opponents to launch the no confidence proceedings against the prime minister.

The military denies any interference in the country’s political affairs and has publicly stated it has nothing to do with the current political turmoil.

 

Source: Voice of America

The Federal Cabinet has proposed to bring the letter, revealing conspiracy against the government, before the National Security Committee.

This was stated by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib while talking to media in Islamabad today [Wednesday].

He said the cabinet also proposed to discuss the matter in an in-camera session of the parliament.

The Minister of State said Prime Minister Imran Khan will not compromise on independent foreign policy of the country. He said our government will not be dishonest with the public of the country.

He hoped that MQM-P will review its decision after knowing the facts.

Farrukh Habib said the entire nation is supporting Imran Khan who is determined to fight till the last ball.

 

Source: Radio Pakistan

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar says the opposition will face defeat in vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister Imran Khan as most of the parliamentarians from opposition parties are in contact with the government to join the treasury benches.

Talking to a private TV channel, he said the corrupt leadership of opposition parties is involved in horse trading in the country.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan is a brave leader and has unveiled the international conspiracy against his government.

Usman Dar said the prime minister has always kept the national interest supreme rather than personal gains and he will never compromise on the national interest.

He said people have full confidence in the courage and honesty of Prime Minister.

 

Source: Radio Pakistan

The current account deficit has continued to balloon in recent months due to the higher import bill, surging over $9 billion during the first half of the current financial year 2021-22.

According to statistics updated by the State Bank of Pakistan, the current account deficit has surged to $9.09 billion during the period of July to December 2021 versus the current account surplus of $1.24 billion reported in a similar period of the last financial year.

Higher cost of imports on the account of petroleum products, raw materials for automobile and textile sectors, and various commodity prices have kept the imports higher which widened the trade deficit as well as the current account deficit of the country. Besides, the extra expense of vaccination imports also increased the import bill.

In December 2021, the current account deficit reached the highest level of $1.9 billion in the current and previous financial years.

SBP commented:

The current account deficit (CAD) was broadly unchanged at $1.93 billion in December 2021 from $1.89 billion in November 2021. Cumulatively, led by significant terms of trade shock amid ongoing economic recovery, CAD reached $9.09 billion in Jul-Dec FY22

 

The trade deficit of goods and services increased by 86 percent or $10.6 billion during the period of six months, from July to December of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period in the last year.

Meanwhile, the export receipts of $15.23 billion stood 28 percent or $3.4 billion higher year-on-year during the period of July to December 2021.

Inflows of remittances showed a growth of over 11 percent or $1.6 billion in the said period to stand at $12.9 billion this year.

The staggering current account deficit had posed a persistent worrisome situation for the economic managers and the banking regulator which introduced various strict measures to curb non-essential imports in the country. However, the results are yet to be seen as the import bill has remained out of control since the beginning of the current financial year.

In the recent annual report on The State of Economy, SBP projected that the current account deficit will settle between 2 and 3% of the GDP.

 

 

Source: Pro Pakistani

The insurance sector driven by the state-owned insurance company, State Life Insurance Corporation concluded a healthy business year, with a handsome claim of over Rs. 100 billion to be paid to the policyholders for 2021, said Shoaib Javed Hussain, Chairman, and CEO of State Life Insurance Corporation said.

Talking to the delegation of Council of Economic and Energy Journalists (CEEJ), he said that premium growth of the insurance policy is back on track after contraction for the period of one year in 2020 due to Covid-19 related lockdowns.

He mentioned that not only has the growth of insurance premium recovered but the state-owned insurance providers also paid claims of Rs. 67 billion to its policyholders.

He was of the view that 2021 was a year of recovery with the premium of life insurance growing by 60 percent whereas the growth in health insurance stood at 100 percent and group insurance at 250 percent.

It is noteworthy to mention here that State Life Insurance Corporation is the only service provider to the federal government’s project of Sehat Sahulat Scheme in which an amount of Rs. 25 billion allocated for KP and Rs. 100 billion for Punjab, AZK, Gilgit-Baltistan.

State Life Insurance Corporation Limited has waived off the penalty of millions of rupees of their beneficiaries or policyholders who failed to pay their premium payment due to the financial crisis, he added.

 

Source: Pro Pakistani

Askari Bank Limited has announced a Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for its regular employees aimed at bringing consolidation and efficiency in the operations and services of the organization.

VSS is being introduced for all regular employees from junior to senior level with generous financial compensation on top of end-of-service benefits to retiring staffers.

There are around 8,000 employees working at Askari Bank Limited on a contract or regular basis. The bank is operating with a network of 536 branches across the country and a wholesale bank branch in Bahrain.

Who Will Avail VSS?

According to the official notification, employees with a minimum of 4 years of service as regular staffers can opt for VSS and will get a minimum compensation of Rs. 0.5 million.

The criterion is the same for employees working in a subsidiary such as Askari Leasing Company. The maximum age limit for VSS is 57 years till January 21, 2022.

Senior Vice President and higher-ranked employees can not avail this scheme whereas employees working in a foreign branch are also ineligible for the VSS.

However, applying to the scheme is no guarantee that the separation from the organization will be approved as the management will decide VSS for employees after reviewing their application.

Compensation Under VSS

The VSS application is open for a period of 8 days starting January 21 to 28, 2022.

The following financial payout will be offered to staff opting for VSS:

Payout= Adjusted Payout Multiple * Basic Salary (As of Jan 21, 2022)

Adjusted Payout Multiple = Lesser of Payout Multiple OR Grade Payout Cap

Payout Multiple= (Number of years of completed service) * (Grade Multiple)

The minimum payout is set at Rs. 500,000 for employees of all grades. In addition to the compensation, employees will also be provided compensation on the account of provident fund, gratuity, leave encashment, executive car maintenance, and tax refund (for AVP/ VP only), the official notification said.

The VSS allowance and other compensation will be liable to deduction of income tax at source. The final settlement of the payment will be done within the next two weeks after all formal clearances of the employee.

The management has clarified that the VSS is being launched as a very special case under exceptional circumstances but it will not create a future precedent for the bank in any way.

HR Transition at Askari Bank

The bank witnessed a transition of leadership from the top office as the renowned banker Atif A Bokhari took over as the CEO and President of the bank last year replacing Abid Sattar as the top banker in the mid of 2021.

The decision of rightsizing or downsizing of human resources has been taken place under the new president, however, the consultations were made before him as a part of the 3-year strategic plan of the bank towards the improvement of the bank’s operations and standards of services, which also included the improvement of human resource efficiency at the bank.

Earlier this year, we (the management) outlined a vision to make Askari Bank a responsible, customer-focused bank that provides inclusive and progressive financial services. The bank’s vision is to build a long-term customer relationship by delivering a transformative, innovation-driven customer experience, and by shaping opportunities that grow shareholder’s value. Today, however, we find ourselves at an inflection point. Fast-changing consumer behaviors and technological changes have prompted us to rethink our operating model, the official notification said.

Askari Bank remained a high-performing bank in the banking industry which reported the highest-ever profit of Rs. 10.8 billion in 2020 and became a part of the country’s top ten profitable banks.

In the subsequent year, the bank did not continue its profitability but witnessed a negative growth of 16% in the three quarters of 2021.

 

 

Source: Pro Pakistani