Day: October 4, 2021

The Pakistani Rupee slid to a new low against the US Dollar today. It depreciated by 32 paisas against the dollar to close at 170.80.

The local currency recovered slightly against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday after registering consecutive record lows throughout the week and an all-time low of 170.66 on Thursday.

Fitch Ratings published a report saying that it expects the rupee to depreciate even further in 2022. It downgraded its forecasts for the PKR’s average rate against the USD to 180 in 2022 as compared to its prior projection of 165.

Chase Manhattan Bank’s former Treasury Head, Asad Rizvi, tweeted that rupee volatility will likely persist until talks with the International Monetary Fund conclude.

Furthermore, on Sunday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists exposed a significant number of Pakistani politicians, businessmen, and media tycoons who own offshore assets.

The Minister of Interior, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, said, “The FIR has been empowered to crack down on dollar holdings”.

The PKR also depreciated against other major currencies today. It lost Rs. 1.01 against the Euro, Rs. 1.98 against the Pound Sterling (GBP), Rs. 1.16 against the Australian Dollar (AUD), and Rs. 1.16 against the Canadian Dollar (CAD).

It also lost nine paisas each against the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED).

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Federal Board of Revenue may announce prizes of up to Rs. 1 million for customers of integrated Tier-1 retailers, reported a national daily.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has drafted a proposal in which it details its plans to award prizes under four categories to customers of integrated tier-1 retailers. The first prize may be Rs. 1,000,000 (one prize); the second prize is Rs. 500,000 (two prizes); the third prize is Rs. 250,000 (four prizes), and the fourth prize of Rs. 50,000 (1000 prizes).

The board aims to encourage customers to make purchases from registered retailers through this initiative.

The board will hold a computerized draw every month at the FBR headquarters.

This proposal applies to the retailers that have integrated their retail outlets with the FBR’s computerized system. Customers who want to participate will verify the electronically generated invoice of integrated retailers either through the Tax Asaan application or by sending an SMS to 9966.

If the system verifies the invoice, the customer will provide their name, CNIC, and mobile number, and will be included in the random computerized draw. The FBR will conduct an enquiry in the case of an unverified invoice.

The winners of the draw will have to perform biometric verification at the nearest e-Sahulat facility of the National Database & Registration Authority, and submit a scanned copy of the Tax Assan application.

After successful biometric verification, the winners will be required to provide their IBANs through the Tax Asaan application, the FBR maintained.

It also announced that a person or firm that it has authorized will carry out mystery shopping on a random basis from tier-1 retailers. This individual will verify the invoices from the FBR’s online system. In the case of fake or invalid invoices, they will report to the board that will act per the provisions of the Sales Tax Act.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The government has granted direct access to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for making payment arrangements to beneficiaries of the Kamyab Pakistan Program through various commercial banks.

According to a circular issued by Finance Division, the federal cabinet has approved exemption of Rule 3(2) of Cash Management and Treasury Single Account Rules, 2020 to allow the direct debit authority to SBP beyond inevitable circumstances for payments under the Kamyab Pakistan Programme.

The government has approved the Kamyab Pakistan program, which consists of five components, namely:

i. Kamyab Karobar

ii. Kamyab Kissan

iii. Naya Pakistan Low-cost Housing

iv. Kamyab Hunarmand

v. Sahatmand Pakistan

Under the first three components, micro-loans shall be distributed among persons registered with the National Socio-Economic Registry. These three components will be treated as new initiatives independent of Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan-youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (PMKJYES) and Government Markup Subsidy Scheme (GMSS).

The last two components of the program are integrated with the government’s existing programs.

The Kamyab Pakistan Program is aimed at integrating with the government’s ongoing skill development program for educational and vocational training. Accordingly, it is being envisioned that these trained citizens will also have access to the financing facility, and this collaboration will be rebranded as Kamyab Hunarmand.

Under “Sehatmand Pakistan”, it will be mandatory for anybody availing loans under the program to obtain a “Sehat Insaaf card” if the same facility is available in his/her area.

One loan under each Kamyab Pakistan loans category, i.e., Kamyab Karobar, Kamyab Kissan, and Housing, shall be permissible concurrently with the maximum exposure capped at Rs. 2.85 million (put together) per family. Applicants will be able to check the eligibility for the schemes under the program, which could be viewed here:

Govt Selection Process For Microfinance Providers

The government shall only select Wholesale Lenders (WLs) through a competitive bidding process. The WLs will select Microfinance Providers (MFPs) without any direct role of the Finance Division.

The government shall pay the difference of “Customer Rate” and “Bank Rate” as a mark-up subsidy. The bank rate shall be determined through a competitive bidding process by ensuring transparency and compliance of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Framework in letter and spirit. The government will provide two guarantees

a. 10 percent First Loss Guarantee to MFPs/Executing Agencies

b. 50 percent guarantee to WLs on Pari-Passu Basis (equal loss sharing basis or pro-rata basis);

All commercial banks (conventional and Islamic), DFIs, as regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan and PMRC, shall be eligible to participate in the bidding.

The program shall be initially offered in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir and the poorest districts of Sindh and Punjab, and it will be extended to the entire country on a subsequent basis.

Source: Pro Pakistani